Te Amo
by darkroselight
Summary: Julie Manoso's all grown up and working at RangeMan. When a new case has our guys stuck, Ranger calls in a translator to help his team. With a spotty record and a questionable past will she be able to fit in with our Marry Men, and what happens when she falls for the boss's daughter? A Julie story with a side of Babe.
1. Chapter 1

Official Summary- So this is a story idea that's been bouncing around in my head for months and my muse has finally gotten started on writing it down. I'm not the fastest updater, but I never leave a project half done. This story will feature an adult version of Julie Manoso and an ooc of my own creation named Shilo. This is a female slash story girl/girl. If you don't like that, please don't read this. You have been warned.

Authors note- This first chapter is very long. I couldn't find a good place to cut it. I've got more of this story going, but I wanted to load this first bit so I could get people's reactions to it. I've never seen a story that was based around Julie before, but I really think she's one of the most interesting characters. I mean she's Ranger's kid, she's going to be a spitfire. Let me know what you think.

* Disclaimer- Clearly I don't own this, since I'm writing on a fan-fiction site. Some of the characters are of my own creation, but the bread and butter belong to JE. I am making no money. I just love to play with her characters. This goes for the whole story, I will not put one of these in every chapter.

** A few people have asked so I'm adding this note. Yes, The title of this story was inspired by the Rhianna song "Te Amo" No, it is not a song-fic. Nor does the song really have anything to do with the story at all. It just gave me the first spark of inspiration and is my go-to song for when I hit writers block while working on it. Most of my work has a inspiration song or revolves around music.

* * *

><p>"Te Amo"<p>

Chapter 1

**Pov- Shilo**

"Ricardo Carlos Manoso" Known to his friends and Co-workers by his street name, Ranger. The photo next to the name showed a tanned skinned man who had comfortable hit his early forties and lost little of the muscle he'd earned doing years of special force training and other military work. The file was very complete. It gave me details about the security business Ranger ran out of Trenton, New Jersey, called RangeMan. The company also had bases in Miami and Boston, both were run by friends of Ranger's, and came with outstanding reviews.

I had a list of employees who worked for the Trenton branch of RangeMan and all the information a basic background check would find on them. There was no need to dig any farther than that. I would be meeting them all soon anyway. Nearly all of the workers were men, and most of those had military background. The others looked like a random hodgepodge of ex-criminals and gang members with skills and knowledge that made them worth keeping around. They were an interesting group to look at, to say the least. At the most, they looked down right scary.

"Shy?"

I glanced up from the file as the boss of my own security business let himself into my small corner office.

"Hey Mark," I said, letting my attention drop back to the stack of papers in front of me. "This is an impressive team of people."

He nodded. "Yeah, they are. I've done a few missions with the RangeMan team before. There are a few oddballs in there but, they get the job done."

"Do we have any new information?" I asked moving the files away.

He shook his head, his short, sandy hair got in his eyes and he scowled at it, his wife liked him to keep it longer then he was used to after twenty years in the service. "No," He said, looking back at me. "I came in to let you know that the plane will be ready at 1800 hours. Ranger sent in their company jet to get you and one of his men will be onboard to fill you in while you fly. They also have an apartment on site that you'll stay in while you're helping them out. He'll let you know what's going on, but I doubt you'll be doing much until tomorrow morning."

I nodded. "I'm already packed."

He rolled his eyes at me. "Make sure you do a good job while you're down there. I've done plenty of boasting these last few days about you. Ranger knows I'd only send him the best." He said sitting on the arm of the single chair in front of my desk.

"I volunteered." I reminded him.

He nodded. "Yes, but it would have needed to be you anyway. You're going down to help his team and do your tech work like you do for me here, but mostly they need a translator and you're the only one here."

I nodded. I already knew that. Ranger and his team had been having trouble with a high level FTA who only spoke Celtic. Normally not a problem, if all you need to do is grab your man and drag him back to jail. I didn't have all of the details yet, but it sounded to me like a new mob family was stepping on toes in the Trenton area. Ranger's FTA was the son of this new, Celtic based, Mob's leader and had disappeared as soon as he posted bail. Crime was on the rise, and neither side was getting what they wanted.

I was going down to help make communication between the two factions easier. I hadn't been to Ireland since I was a small child, but I'd kept myself fluent in not only Celtic, but Gaelic and Welsh as well. I liked keeping up on my homeland.

"I'll do my best." I promised him.

"I know you will." He stood to leave and left a few parting remarks. "Get back to us as fast as you can and try not to get shot while your down there."

Very helpful advice.

"Oh and Shilo" He added, peeking his head back into my office. "Play nice."

I smirked. "No promises there."

Mark drove me to the airport, after a small farewell diner with the rest of our team and we got there just in time to watch the small company jet land. Two men, both dressed in black, met us on the tar-mat a few moments later. I recognized them both from the file I had on RangeMan.

The first was a tall, well-aged man, with skin like the night. He was easily over 6 feet tall, bald, and built like an NFL linebacker. He shook hands with Mark, like they were old friends, and then Mark started introductions. "Shilo this is Ranger's second in command, Tank. Tank, this is our Miss Lowry, take care of her for me will you?"

I shook Tank's hand. "Just Shilo, please." I said and then I frowned at Mark. I could take care of myself just fine. "I'm looking forward to working with your team."

"A pleasure." He said quickly. Tank nodded to his partner. "This is another of our top men, Lester Santos."

Lester was much friendlier. He moved forward to take my hand, and pressed a quick kiss to my knuckles. "A pleasure indeed, we've heard only good things about you from Mark, hopefully you'll be just the push we need to make some headway on this case."

"Shilo is very skilled." Mark promised. "We were lucky to snag her when we did or her old man would have turned her into a Seal."

"An honorable position." Tank said, giving me another once over, which I took to mean he hadn't done a thorough background check on me. Anyone who knew me wouldn't agree that I was Seal material. Then again, files could be misleading.

"I don't think I'd have made a good Seal." I said honestly. "I'm better with computers."

"More like scary with them." Mark said. "This girl could hack into the pentagon and change the time of the president's lunch meeting if she really wanted too."

"Why would anyone want to do that?" I asked.

A pilot approached and announced that the jet was ready to take off whenever we were. Tank turned back to us and waved me ahead. "We must leave immediately, if you're all set. Your bag's have already been loaded and we'll go over case details on the flight back."

I gave Mark a quick farewell and followed both of Ranger's men onto the Jet. The Jet was comfortable without being plush. Cream and brown fabrics with dark hardwood details. We took our seats and buckled up, sitting in easy silence as the plane took off. Once we hit flying altitude, Tank motioned for me to follow and join him and Lester at a round table behind our chairs.

I took my seat opposite Tank, and waited for one of them to break the silence. Tank spoke first. "I probably should have checked before we took off, but you are fluent in Celtic right?" He asked. "Your file said you were born in Ireland, but you've lived in the states most of your life."

"That's true," I said. "I left Ireland when I was very young, but I still consider it to be my first language."

He nodded. "Good, the second thing I wanted to bring up is not related to our case, but it may be important for us speak about it now."

I nodded that he should continue. "Your father, Col. Lowry."

"He's not my father." I interrupted.

Tank nodded. "We know that, but he is the man who raised you?"

I nodded so he continued.

"Ranger and I, as well as the rest of our core team, have all had the chance to work with Col. Lowry over the years. He was a great field captain and now he trains some of the best teams our military has."

I nodded again. This wasn't news to me. I'd grown up traveling with 'Captain Lowry' and living on military bases surrounded by the men he was training. As soon as I landed on his doorstep, he'd had me training with his boys. I had all of the military training without ever actually joining the military myself. I'd done some undercover work with the special force, but everything was off record.

Tank continued. "You come very highly recommended." He said. "We know about some of your unofficial work and it's very impressive, but we also know of some of your unofficial antics. You've escaped court marshal twice and you have a juvenile record as long as my arm."

"Your point." I asked. I'd been a stupid kid and an impulsive young adult, but I knew my rap sheet wasn't half as long as some of the members of Ranger's team and besides a short trip to juvie I'd never been in jail.

"My point," Tank said. "Is that you don't follow orders, you break rules."

"Sometimes rules have to be broken." I defended. "You've both done Special forces in the past." I said, proving that I'd done my homework as well. "You can't tell me you've never thrown the rule book out the window and flown by the cuff of your sleeve."

Lester broke in. "That's not why he's pointing it out."

"You do comp work for Mark." Tank said, "But, you're clearly trained for field work. Why does he have you locked in an office when you should be on the ground?"

I snapped my mouth shut and had to give credit to Ranger; His men knew what to look for and had found my black spot in under an hour. "I joined Mark's team as a computer specialist." I said refusing to give them more. "I'm a hacker."

"You don't like to work with a team." Tank guessed. "What we gleamed from Mark is that no one in your current office can partner with you. You're a wild card, and a loose cannon."

"Your point?" I asked again.

"That's not how we work at RangeMan." Tank said, the authority in his voice reminded me of Col. Lowry and had me on edge. I'd never taken orders well. "We're going to need you in the field helping us root out these rat's so you can help us interrogate or negotiate with them. We have a close team, built on trust, and we won't risk you being in the field if it means one of our guys might wind up dead."

I nodded, I knew I had trust problems. I didn't always work well with others. I also knew when to set that aside and suck it up. "I am not unfamiliar with working as part of a unit." I explained. "I prefer to work alone, which is why I _requested_ my current computer job. I will work with your team just fine and I will not be a danger to your men."

Tank seemed pleased with my answer, for the time being, and turned to face Lester, who had pulled out another file. He passed a photo across the table to me.

"This is our primary target." He explained.

The photo was of a man in his mid twenties with black hair and bright green eyes. He looked to be about 5'10 and was built wide in the shoulders.

"His name is Michael O'Donnell. He was pulled over a couple of weeks ago and given a DUI. Upon further investigation a large number of narcotics as well as a pair of unregistered weapons were also found in his car, not to mention that he was driving with an out of country license in a car with no registration. O'Donnell posted bail and promptly vanished. He is now also wanted for questioning in two separate murders.

We started looking for him last week and found ourselves in the middle of what feels like Mob business, although an Irish mob has never held ground in Trenton before. When you agreed to join us you mentioned that you had prior knowledge of this man? What did you mean by that?" He asked.

I passed the picture back and leaned back in my seat. "I don't know that man in particular. I said I knew the family. O'Donnell would probably count as the closest thing to a mob family in Ireland. Really they just have a lot of money, power, and old anger. The name O'Donnell has been stained with blood for generations."

It was the name that got me interested in this case, when Mark had mentioned that his friend in Trenton was looking for someone who had both field training as well as the ability to double as a Celtic translator. O'Donnell was a name I'd grown up afraid of and it was the reason I'd been raised in the states by a man who was better off training solders then understanding little girls.

Lester nodded and pulled another photo from his file. "We're not sure just how many member's of the family are in Trenton. For now it appears they are only in the area to do some business with one of our local families. We need to get Michael before they finish and leave the country."

He showed me another picture. This man looked similar to the first, but ten years older. Black hair and blue eyes, the family resemblance was overwhelming. "This is John O'Donnell; we believe he is Michael's youngest Uncle. We know at least three O'Donnell brothers are currently in Trenton along with some of their son's and staff, this is the only one we've identified and he appears to be calling most of the shots."

I kept quiet and listened as they told me about their first few encounters with O'Donnell's group. They'd all been short meetings and had ended with guns drawn. One of Ranger's men had been shot, but he was recovering. They'd come to a stalemate. More crimes were being reported, but no one was able to get at the O'Donnell's to question them and even if they had, so far no one had reported hearing them speak in any language but Celt.

All in all they had very little and just a week to bring Michael in before his bond was forfeit. It was after midnight when we finished speaking and I turned down the offer at a game of cards with Lester in favor of trying to get some sleep before we landed. Sleep didn't come easily. I found myself transported back to my childhood and the stories I'd heard from my mother and grandmother of the O'Donnell family clan. How they had sought for generation to wipe my family name out of existence along with others.

Part of me thought the idea was silly. Some of the oldest Irish names still held onto grudges that were hundreds of years old. I didn't even know why or when they had started to hunt us down. All I did know was that I was the very last of my family name. The massacre in my childhood home had seen to that. I'd only been nine years old. I didn't really care about why the O'Donnell's had left Ireland. I was however, hoping that by getting involved in this case I might find some of the answers I'd been searching for, and perhaps I'd also get some of the revenge I'd been plotting since the night I'd watched my home burn.

"Shilo?" … "Shilo, wake up."

I opened my eyes and sat up as Lester tugged on my sleeve. "We just landed." He said. "A couple of car's are waiting for us with a few more members of our team. Don't worry about your bag's."

I got up and grabbed my one carry-on bag. I never let my laptop leave my side. Tank and Lester led the way down the planes stair case and into the cool night air. A light breeze tugged at my hair, and the strands that had worked their way out of my braid brushed against my neck.

It was dark on the runway and I almost missed the small gathering of people waiting for us off to the side. Black must be a RangeMan thing. All three of the large SUV's waiting for us were black and, like Tank and Lester, everyone standing near them was also wearing black clothes.

I felt like a walking rainbow as we made our way other to them. My pants were black but I'd worn a lime green blouse with matching lime green heels. The color didn't match my dark red hair, but it brought out the green in my eyes, plus it had always been my favorite.

A man stepped forward as we reached the small welcome party and, as he dissolved out of the shadows, I recognized Carlos Manoso from his photo. He shook my hand and welcomed me to Trenton.

"Thank you for coming at such sudden notice." He continued. "We can't afford to waste any more time on this case."

I shook my head. "It was no problem." I assured him. "I hope I am able to help your team. Col. Lowry sends you his best and hopes you and your family are doing well."

Ranger nodded. "I'll send him my best regards." He said. "Your father's a strong man." I didn't bother to correct him, that Col. Lowry wasn't actually my father. I was more then positive he already knew that.

Ranger waved me over to the small fleet of black car's and introduced the people with them. Two were members of his team, both large muscled men, I only recognized one from my list of employees as another ex-military man called, Cal. The second was a younger man Ranger introduced as Razor.

When he motioned to the last car a woman stepped forward, melting out of the shadow's the same way Ranger had. Her skin was two shades lighter then her father's and her black hair was tied back in a ponytail that nearly reached her lower back. Like the men she was dressed in all black, straight down to black, spike heeled boots and I didn't miss the gun on her hip either.

I knew before he introduced her that she would be Ranger's daughter, Julie. She'd been in the file as a new member of the RangeMan staff, still in training, but there had been no picture. She was beautiful.

**Pov Julie-**

The gym was already abuzz with activity when I walked in at 6'oclock in the morning. Treadmills were spinning and a few of the guys were taking turns on the mats. Razor smiled at me on his way to the changing room, still dressed in his fencing gear.

"Morning," I greeted as I stretched and climbed on my own treadmill. I started off at a light jog, trying to clear my mind. Running was my favorite time to think, and lately we'd had a lot going on at RangeMan to keep the whole team running double shifts.

I'd only been helping out at RangeMan for a few months now, after convincing my dad this was what I really wanted to do, and this was easily the biggest case they'd taken on in that time. This new 'Mob' faction that was causing trouble, was escalating and we hadn't even been able to figure out what had brought them here.

I kicked up the speed on my treadmill and peeled off my t-shirt. My Uncle Lester snapped at one of the younger guys on his team for staring at me. Poor kid was lucky Ranger was already on 5. Causing distraction for his men was one of the excuses he'd use for not wanting me to join RangeMan in the first place. Really, he just didn't want anyone to shoot at me. Sooner or later he'd see just how much we had in common. I'd wanted to join RangeMan since I was 10 years old and Dad had saved me from a stalker who'd kidnapped me in an attempts to take over his life. That was probably the same memory that kept him from putting me out in the field.

I finished my run and stepped off the treadmill just as Lester challenged our second in command, Tank, to a match on the mats. I stuck around to watch, loving the back and forth that eventually ended with Tank winning and Lester grumbling his defeat. I cheered along with the rest of the spectators which only ticked my poor uncle off more.

"Oh come on Niña." He said pouting at me, trying to butter me up with the pet-name my dad and his core team called me. "You're supposed to be on my side. I'm family after all."

I passed him his water bottle when he stood up. "Tank's been coming to family gatherings since before I was born." I reminded him. "He's family too."

Tank laid a kiss on the top of my head. "Thanks Doll," He said. "Won't be long before you can wipe the floor with your uncle too, he's getting slow."

I laughed with him at my uncle's expense before kissing his cheek. "Love you Uncle Lester." I left the gym then, going back to my apartment on four to shower since the gym only had one changing room, and the boy's used it. I bumped into my only fellow woman on the RangeMan team, Stephanie, in the elevator.

"Morning Julie." She said stepping onto the elevator with me, smirking when she caught my sweaty, winded state. "Your father's rubbing off on you if you're getting up at the butt crack of dawn to go work out."

I chuckled. "Gotta prove I can hang with the boy's." I said. "It's the only way I'll get taken seriously around here."

Her smile faltered then and I saw recognition flash in her sharp eyes. It was easy to see why Dad had fallen for her, she was the only woman I knew who could keep up with him. "Do you want me to talk to him?" She asked seriously.

I shook my head. "No thanks Steph. Sooner or later he'll realize that I'm not going to give up on this."

She kissed the top of my head. "You really are your father's daughter." She said. "He's going to have a hard time when the boy's get older." I chuckled with her on that one. My younger, half brothers were already the spitting image of our father and got into just as much trouble as he had at their age. "Your Dad wants you in on the meeting this morning." She added when the elevator stopped on four. "0800 on five."

"I'll be down as soon as I clean up." I promised stepping onto the fourth floor and making my way down to the last apartment on the right. I bumped into the building's housekeeper Ella, as she came out of the apartment across the hall from mine and she smiled brightly at me.

"Morning Sweetheart." She said.

"Good Morning Ella." I said. "What are you doing?"

Ella was the woman who singlehandedly took the job of cleaning up after my father's men and kept their break room full of healthy things for them to eat and coffee when they pulled late nights. She was wonder woman. "I'm getting the room ready." She said. "Your father's got someone coming in tonight to help with the new case and she's going to be staying here during her trip."

"She?" I asked. "Who is she?"

"I'm not sure dear, he didn't say."

I said goodbye then and showered quickly, changing into my stander issue, all black RangeMan gear. Black t-shirt with RangeMan embroidered in back on the chest, black cargo's, black boots, black belt and gun holster. I even had RangeMan stitched in black on my black underwear. I brushed out my hair and pinned it up into a bun. A few of the guys had recommended I cut it so it wouldn't get in my way if I got into a fight, but I saw no reason to hack it off until I was guaranteed some regular field action.

I toped the whole look off with a few swipes of mascara and red eye shadow to add some color. I made it to the meeting right on time and walked in with the others as we all piled in around the conference table. Dad took the head seat with Stephanie at his side. Steph's RangeMan partner, Hector, was to her left, followed by the rest of the core team: Tank, Lester and our medic Bobby. Two more RangeMen joined us a moment later. The first was, Razor, one of our newer guy's, the other was one of my personal favorites, a big tough guy everyone called, Cal. Cal was big and scary with a flaming skull tattoo on the back of his baldhead, but inside he was a softie. I loved messing with Cal.

Ranger started the meeting once everyone was seated and started passing some things around the table.

"You all know that we've been looking to bring in a translator to help us with this latest case." He said. "Meet Miss Shilo Lowry." He continued nodding to the photo he was passing around. "She works with a security team in New York called, Liberty Security. The operation's fairly similar to our own. Her boss is a man I've worked with before named, Mark. He called last night to say that Miss Lowry has taken an interest in our case and is willing to provide her survives for us. She is fluent in Celt as well as having a background in Special force. He says she's one of his best people."

Bobby nodded to the sheet he was holding. "There's no list of a military background." He said.

"There wouldn't be." Ranger said. "She's not military; the missions she helped with were high class and off the record. She does have a military level training though and the unofficial rank of Second Lieutenant."

Tank let out a low whistle as he looked over the sheet he was holding. "She's Col. Lowry's daughter?" He asked. "I wasn't aware the Col. had any daughters."

"He doesn't." Ranger said. "Just his five boy's. Col. Lowry adopted Shilo when she was a child from Ireland. She's grown up here in the states with his family."

I took one of the sheets when it came around and found myself captivated by the story it painted of this woman. She'd been adopted after an accident had killed her family when she was only nine years old, but no details were included in the file. Her birth name was Connalay. The picture included showed a strikingly attractive woman with dark red hair and bright green eyes. She was twenty-four and had taken a computer job just over a year ago in New York after declining the option of joining Special Forces permanently.

"She's got a record." Lester pointed out. "A couple of court marshals that didn't stick."

I glanced down at my sheet again. The report mentioned several charges pressed against Shilo, as well as some she had pressed against others, but again no details were included. No doubt, Ranger had a copy of her full file in his office.

Ranger nodded. "She's got a juvenile record too, nothing serious. Most of it looked like standard vandalism, a couple of minor arson charges. She set fire to an old shed on Col. Lowry's property when she was fifteen, the record stated she was found roasting marshmallows over it."

Stephanie laughed. "I like her." She said. "She's got spunk."

"She's disobedient." Cal disagreed. "Are we sure she'll listen in the field?"

Ranger nodded. "Her records are no worse then half of the men currently employed here. I've spoken to some of her past commanding officers and, while they agree that she's a force of her own, they also praised her strength of will. I'm not too worried about it, but I may bring it up to make sure she's know's we wont stand for any of that here."

Ranger moved on then. "Tank and Lester are going to fly out in a few hours to go get her, they'll land tonight. Razor, Cal, I want you to come with us to pick her up. Steph and Hector are on watch duty tonight so Julie I'd like you to come as well. I think Miss Lowry might be more comfortable with another woman around."

I smiled and nodded along, glad for the chance to help outside of the office work I'd been doing. "No problem Boss,"

"I'll let you all know when they're getting ready to land so we can head out. Plan to be ready around 2100 hours."

The meeting turned away from Shilo then as Ranger and his guys bounced around idea's to catch our current FTA. I found myself distracted by the report I'd kept in front of me while I listened. It was exciting that Ranger was bringing in another girl for the team, but I was more interested in all of the things the report left out. What sort of accident would have forced a child across the country? And what hadn't Ranger wanted us all to see in the charges Shilo had against her. He usually brought in full reports on people coming into the company, but he also believed in respecting the privacy of his employees. He hadn't wanted us to see something specific.

The meeting ended and I followed the other's back out onto the work floor and let myself into my cubical. I had another stack of searches to run and rolled my eye's at the work I could have done in my sleep.

"You ok Tiger?"

I glanced up to find Bobby leaning against the doorway to my tiny cubby. "Yeah, I'm good." I promised, typing in the first name on my search list into the computer so it could start the work.

"You looked a little distracted in the meeting." He pressed, nodding to the copy of Shilo's file I still had on my desk. "She's hot."

I blushed, Steph, my dad, and the core team were the only ones who knew about my preference for women, and they only knew because I'd ousted myself at a family gathering last year by brining a girlfriend home, and I intended to keep it that way. No way the other guys here would take me seriously if they knew. "Aren't you married?" I asked shooting him a look I hoped he would understand meant 'drop it, shut up, and move on.'

He smirked at me, but played along. "She's too young for me anyway." He said. "I was just pointing it out."

He left then and I tucked my copy of Shilo's file away in one of my drawers, returning my attention to the screen, looking over the information that the computer pulled up. RangeMan had an impressive set of programs and I sometimes felt like I was prying at the personal information that popped up.

Four hours later I was halfway though my stack of searches and starving. I wondered into the staff room and found Steph there, giving the collection of fruit and whole-grain sandwiches a distasteful look.

"Hey Steph." I said, moving to her side to look over the selection for myself. "Don't see anything you like?" I asked.

"I was looking for sugar." She said.

I laughed. "You know Ranger doesn't let sugar anywhere near this room. You'd have better luck if you went straight to Ella's room. She usually keeps something fatty around."

She smiled. "Or we could go to the bakery. Want to come with me?"

"Sure," I jumped at the chance to get out of the office. "I'm almost done with my searches anyway."

Steph and I took the elevator down to the garage and she started walking towards my dad's personal collection of car's. She noticed the look I tossed the black RangeMan SUV that had been assigned to me and waved me to follow her.

"Not a chance Sweetie." She said. "Boston Cream calls for a special ride."

She beeped open the door's on my dad's newest porches and patted the seat next to her. "Come on."

I slid into the car and let the buttery soft, leather seat envelop me. "This is such a nice car." I said with approval.

"That's why I stole the keys from your father." Steph said with a smile. "I love this car."

"You stole them?" I asked.

She shrugged. "Not like he couldn't have stopped me if he'd wanted to." She said. "I took them straight off his belt." Then she grinned. "However he does tend to lose his focus when I kiss him."

I stuck my tongue out. "Didn't need to know that."

She laughed at me. "Why would that embarrass you?" She said. "I love your father very much. Where do you think your brothers came from?" She asked. "You don't still believe in the Stork do you?"

"Of course not." I said laughing with her as we pulled into the parking lot of Steph's favorite bakery, the Tasty Pastry. "I just don't like to think about it."

I got out of the car and followed Steph inside, where she fell into her 'thinking zone' going over the cases of doughnuts she had memorized. I let my mind wonder while she worked, wondering how a man who considered sugar to be one of the greatest sins on earth had fallen in love with the queen of pastry's herself.

Stephanie and my dad had hooked up about six months after my kidnapping when I was little. I still liked to joke that it was that incident, and more importantly, my part in the kidnapping, that was instrumental in getting them together.

I'd take credit for that every day of the week. They were prefect for each other, and it was also that time when I started to see more of Ranger as a child. The kidnapping publicly ousted my relationship to Ranger and if he wasn't able to hide it he figured spending more time with me would help protect me. I loved my mom and my stepdad Ron, but I'd always felt close to Ranger.

With everything going on between my mom and Ron right now I was glad I'd moved to Trenton and gotten away before the drama started. It was only a matter of time before their marriage ended; I'd seen it coming years ago. They'd been drifting apart and as I got closer to Ranger and threw myself into his line of work the relationship I had with my mom was also strained. She probably thought I'd moved to Trenton to punish her.

Stephanie placed her order and when the lady behind the desk passed her seven bakery boxes, at a dozen doughnuts each, I thought she'd lost her mind.

"Are you pregnant again?" I asked, remembering the constant supply of doughnuts Steph had demanded while she'd been pregnant with the boy's. In her mind being pregnant with twins had meant she was entitled to twice the number of doughnuts.

She grinned. "No, no more baby's for me. I'm bringing these back as a gift for the team. Everyone's been working so hard with this case, I know it's driving your father crazy."

"Dad's not going to eat one of those." I said.

She shook her head. "No, but I bet you Uncle Lester will eat five by himself."

"Probably." I agreed, taking half of the boxes and helping her load them into the car. "Too bad he and Tank already left." We each ate a doughnut on our way back to the building and we stopped to drop a box off at the Bond office that Steph and RangeMan still did skip work for.

When we got back to the office we snuck in with our pastry boxes and almost got mauled when the elevator doors opened on five. Clearly whoever was on monitors had announced that the sugar fairy was about to strike.

I helped past out pastries to everyone and laughed along with the guy's when Ranger came out to see why no one was working. Steph batted her eyes at him and defused his anger for a moment before he ordered everyone back to work.

Once the excitement of the doughnuts was over I went back to my cubby and finished working on my searches. It was all standard stuff. A few were people we thought might be connected to our O'Donnell case. A few were skips we were doing for Vinnie's Bond Office. One was background on a new office building who wanted us to do security for them. blah blah blah.

I turned in the reports and told Hal I was done for the day. It was only six and I had time to burn so I dug up diner in the staff room and headed back down to the gym. I found Steph and Hector on their way out for the night surveillance shift. We were keeping tabs on a few different locations trying to spot our FTA if he went out.

I wished them luck and Hector reminded me to work on my lock picking. I promised him I would. In the gym I went back to my treadmill, letting my mind wonder while the clock ticked on the wall. After an hour of running I went upstairs and treated myself to a long hot shower before wrapping myself in a towel and heading into my closest to try and decide what to wear. Since I would be representing RangeMan it would have to be black.

Finally I settled on a pair of black dress slacks and a black RangeMan shirt. I added a black belt and my gun along with a killer pair of black stiletto boots. Back in the bathroom, I brushed out my hair and redid my make-up, adding a few extra swipes of makeup for confidence, a trick I'd learned from Stephanie. Remembering how beautiful Shilo's hair had been I decided to leave mine down. After berating myself that this was not a woman I was allowed to flirt with I tied it back into a pony tail.

I headed back down to five and found the other guys already waiting. We lounged in one of the conference room's waiting for Ranger. We didn't have to wait too long. Ranger came to collect us and we piled into three separate vehicles and headed to the airport. Cal and Razor each took their own car while I sat in the SUV Ranger was driving.

It was dark outside and we rode in comfortable silence while Dad entered his driving zone. I liked to think on the treadmill, dad liked to sort his thoughts while he drove. Personally, I thought my place was safer, but whatever floated his boat.

We pulled into the dark airport and were allowed to drive our cars around back to the landing strip where the company jet would be landing. When we stopped, I got out to stretch my legs and we'd only be waiting a moment when a man came over to tell us our plane was coming in.

I watched with the other's as it landed and the impressive sleek, black jet came to a stop on the runway. The passenger door opened and the stairs descended. It was easy to tell the three passengers apart by their silhouettes. Tank came first, followed by Lester, and lastly the much smaller outline of our guest Shilo.

They stepped into the light above us and I felt my breath momentarily catch in my throat. Her picture hadn't done her justice. Her skin was pale and unblemished except for a sprinkle of freckles across her cheekbones. Her dark red hair was tied behind her head in a braid, but a few of the strands had worked themselves free on the plane ride and they brushed against her neck in the wind.

Ranger stepped forward when they neared our group and introduced himself. I stayed back against the car to watch for a moment longer while he spoke with her, enjoying my moment to stare at her unseen. When she spoke I had to remind myself that I had to keep a professional relationship with her. Her voice was like the sweetest music.

She passed a message along for her stepfather and I noticed the small frown on her face when Ranger called Col. Lowry her father. A few years ago I'd started correction people the same way when they called Ron my father. Ron had been very nice to me growing up and I knew that he loved me, but he wasn't my father.

Ranger introduced her to Cal and Razor and when he motioned back towards me I knew my chance to observe secretly was over and I stepped into the light. "This is Julie." Ranger said and I raised my hand to greet her trying to keep my face professional and friendly.

**Pov Shilo-**

She held out her hand and I worked to keep my face blank. I didn't have a good poker face, like the guys I worked with back in New York. I'd never mastered the standard issue military 'blank look.'

"It's nice to meet you." She said as we shook hands. Her skin was soft and left little tingles behind on my own skin when she let go. She smiled at me and I cleared my throat when I realized I hadn't responded to her greeting.

"Hi," I started lamely, before remembering that we had an audience. "I'm glad to be here." I continued turning back to face the small group of people. "I'll do my best to help anyway that I can."

We were just turning to the car's when Ranger's phone rang. He picked it up quickly and said, "Report."

He listened for a moment before flipping it shut and turning to the rest of us. "No time to get settled in." He said. "One of our teams has eyes on Michael O'Donnell. We'll attempt to pick him up right now."

I was ushered into one of the SUV's with Tank and Razor and we followed the others out of the lot. Tank had a headset on and was talking to Ranger as we drove.

"Shilo,"

I glanced to my side and Razor was handing me a bulletproof vest. "Strap up." He said. "Are you armed? I know you didn't have time to get to your bags."

I shook my head. "No guns, but I always carry a few blades on me." I pointed out first the knife in my boot and then one I was wearing on a harness under my shirt. The fabric of my blouse was loose and concealed the harness.

He smiled at me. "You're a knife girl?" He pulled up his own pants leg and showed me the massive knife in his boot. "Me too."

I unzipped my laptop bag and pulled out a smaller black bag I always kept with me too. It contained a small portion of my knife collection and Razor whistled in approval when I pulled out the belt of throwing knives.

He took one from its sheath and balanced it in his hand. "These are Shanghai throwing knives right?" He asked.

I nodded. I had six of the small blades all made of black steel with black grips. The ring on the end gave me deadly accuracy when throwing them and they were a personal favorite. I took the blade back and slipped it into the belt before clipping it on around my waist. "They were a Christmas present last year."

He laughed. "I need to meet your friends."

"Won't do you any good." I said. "I bought them for myself."

"Then we should exchange gifts this year." He said, looking me over. "If you're a fan of Japanese blades I bet you'd like a nice Tai Pan serpent knife."

I held out my hand, caught off guard by how easily we'd started talking. He took my hand and I shook it once. "Deal."

We pulled into a dark lot across the street from a bar called Wild Horse and met up with the others. Like Razor and myself everyone had donned bullet proof vests and some were checking over their weapons.

"Hal and Blaze are inside, they have eyes on O'Donnell, but he's got two men with him and the bar's crowded. We need to get him outside." Ranger said.

"I can do it." Julie stepped forward. "I'll go and order a drink, get him to talk to me. Maybe I can get him to try and take me home; then we can get him in the parking lot. Like Steph does."

Ranger shook his head. "No, you're still in training."

Julie looked like she was going to fight back, but Tank spoke up first. "Besides Tiger," He said flashing her a small smile. "Your dressed head to toe in RangeMan gear. Everyone in Trenton knows you, you look just like the Boss."

This was the first time I'd noticed that all of their black clothes were monogrammed with the word RangeMan in black thread.

"She's underage, they wont serve her." Ranger said, clearly stating that using Julie was out of the question. "You're not supposed to be drinking." He added, just to Julie.

Julie rolled her eyes. "I'll be twenty-one next month; you can't honestly tell me you never drank while you were underage."

"What if we just send in two guys and they ask to speak with them outside. Then we jump in and take them all." Cal suggested.

"To messy," Ranger said. "These guys are fast to pull the trigger if they sense a trap. We'll wait in the lot, try to grab him when they leave."

We took positions around the bar, hiding in shadow's and behind car's. I was covering the back entrance with Razor and Julie. We took up position behind a pair of large blue dumpsters and did our best to watch the door for any sign of movement while holding our breath.

"This thing reeks." Julie commented after twenty minutes of silence.

Razor chuckled. "I've hid behind worse."

"I should go inside." Julie suggested again. "I've done distractions before, I could get him outside."

"No." Came Ranger's quick reply through the earpieces we were all wearing.

"Doesn't change the fact that you're too recognizable." Razor reminded her.

Then I had an idea. "What about me?" I asked no one in particular, knowing they would all hear me through the earpiece anyway. "I'm not in RangeMan black."

Razor and Julie both turned to look at me. Razor was looking over my outfit, Julie was looking at me. I held her dark brown eyes for a moment before she nodded. "It's a good idea." She agreed.

"It could work." Razor said nodding along, "Without all of the knives she'd look like everyone else in there."

"No one would know her either." Julie added. "She's only been in the state for an hour and a half."

"Have you ever done something like this before?" Ranger asked over the earpiece.

I shook my head, before remembering that he couldn't see me. "I've never been the bait before." I said. "It can't be that hard."

"You're not a member of my team." Ranger said after a moment of silence. "I won't order you to go in there."

"I said I was here to help." I reminded him. "Even if I can't get him to talk to me, maybe I can get close enough to overhear something at the bar, something your boy's inside won't understand. I can't translate if I can't hear them talking."

"Come back to the truck." Ranger said. "We'll get you wired."

"I'll come too." Razor offered. "I can cover her inside. She won't be able to wear a vest under that blouse."

All three of us made our way back to the trucks and Ranger meet us there. I striped off my vest and belt knife while he spoke. "Tank showed you the picture of our target, yes?"

I nodded.

"He's at the bar, far left side. The two men with him are armed, they're his bodyguards, you're going to need to get past them if you want to make direct contact."

I nodded again. "I've got an idea." I looked at Razor. "I'm going to need your help though." Razor nodded and moved his vest under his shirt so it wouldn't be seen before adding his coat to hide the RangeMan logo. I adjusted my pants so my boot knife was hidden.

"Here" Ranger came over with a wire and I tried not to flinch when he grabbed my shirt. Clearly I didn't hide it well, because he stopped and raised an eyebrow at me. "You don't go in without a wire." He said flatly, making it clear he would not negotiate on this point.

I nodded, trying to brush off the instinct to move farther away from him. I didn't like people in my space, especially people I didn't know. "I'm fine." I assured him. "Just do it."

"I'll do it." Julie stepped up to my side and took the wire from her father. "Is that ok Shilo?" She asked me.

I nodded and hoped that the shadows from the SUV would hide my blush as her hands moved under my shirt. I shivered as she lined the mic up between my boobs and taped it in place, laying the wire around my side and clipping the rest of the mic to the back of my bra. She pulled her hands away from me as soon as it was in place and moved a few steps back. "I'll go back and cover the rear entrance." She said before moving off quickly.

Ranger nodded in my direction. "Speak; we need to check the microphone."

"Can everyone hear me?" I asked.

Ranger nodded and I got confirmations from both Tank and Cal, who were still watching the building.

"Don't take any unnecessary risks." Ranger said as I grabbed my coat and slipped it over my shoulders. "Mark will chew my ear off, if I loose you on the first night. If you're not positive you can get to him, don't blow your cover."

"I'll be fine." I assured him, handing him the earpiece I wouldn't be able to wear inside.

"What do you need me for?" Razor asked. "What's your plan?"

I smirked and looped my arm through his, pulling him in the direction of the bar. "You are going to be my date."

Razor opened the door for me and when we got inside, we stood in the doorway until our eyes adjusted to the dime lights and the smoky haze. The bar was lined with stools and tables of patrons were posted around the walls leaving the center of the room open for couples to dance.

Razor took my hand and pulled me onto the dance floor, he lead us across the room and then pulled me close enough so he could speak in my ear without us being overheard. "Over my shoulder, the two men in the corner are our guys from RangeMan."

I glanced over his shoulder and locked eyes with the two men sitting there. They were both white males, the first was nearly as big as Tank, with buzzed brown hair. The other was leaner, shorter and thinner with shaggy blond hair. Both were dressed in black, not very conspicuous, although no one seemed to be paying them any attention.

Razor spun us around. "Now at the bar, the three men to your far left are our targets." Again, I peeked over his shoulder and scanned along the bar. Michael O'Donnell was easy to spot. He looked just like his photo. The men on either side of him were your standard dumb mussel types. Both men were big with dark hair and wearing large jackets to hide their guns.

"Let's move closer." I said.

Razor spun us around and we worked our way to the edge of the dance floor. I pulled him with me towards the bar and sat down at one of the bar stools. I moved Razor close to my side, using him to block Michael's view of us.

A waitress came over and Razor order two drinks, while I leaned against the bar trying to hear what O'Donnell and his men were saying. Like Ranger had said they spoke only in Gaelic and it was hard to catch whole phrases in the crowded bar. A waitress approached them and the goon on O'Donnell's left ordered their drinks in English before turning back to Michael.

"Ceann amháin níos mó ansin dúinn a fhágáil."

I pulled Razor closer to me and translated. "They're not saying anything important. One of the bodyguards has just declared this the last round. He wants to leave."

Razor waited while someone spoke to him through his earpiece and leaned down to my ear to give me the word. "Ranger doesn't want you to blow your cover. We might have a chance at another distraction. Keep listening and see what you can get before they leave."

I nodded and turned around so I was leaning against the bar and one of my ears was lined up better for overhearing. Razor stayed close, blocking their view of me and keeping other people away from us. Michael and his men discussed the music playing and their distaste for it and Michael poked fun at one of his bodyguards for eyeing one of the waitresses.

I glanced around Razor's side and looked them over again. They seemed like average people, although they were a little over dressed. Michael's slacks were pressed and his watch probably cost more than the rent on my apartment.

The only thing that caught my eye were the matching set of bands worn by both of the bodyguards. Neither man wore any jewelry except for a thick band of silver on their right wrists. Pressed into the silver were identical family crests. I couldn't see the details from this distance.

A couple of minutes later Michael stood up and he and his bodyguards got ready to leave. That's when all hell broke loose. Three men came in the front doors all dressed up and toting guns. The first spotted Michael at the bar and called his name before firing his weapon into the room.

The everyday patrons of the bar started screaming and a few of them pulled guns of their own. Razor knocked me to the ground, pinning us against the bar and started speaking very quickly into his mic while he drew his own gun. I glanced around his side to see Michael and his men making a break for the back door.

I pushed past Razor and tore after them shouting at my cleavage so Ranger and his guys would hear me over all of the noise. "He's heading for the back door. I'm going after him."

I ran as fast as I could in the crowded room, leaping over other people who were lying on the ground and sliding across a table. I hit the back hallway at a dead sprint just in time to watch Michael's backside slip out the door. I pushed the back door open and raced into the ally. Julie was there, fighting with one of Michael's bodyguards. The other one was already down.

I raced towards them to help when Michael pulled a gun and aimed towards Julie. "Julie, gun!" I shouted, "Get down."

I tackled her, knocking us both back towards the dumpsters as Michael opened fire on us and his own man.

We hit the ground hard in a pile of trash bags and beer bottles, the wind knocked from my lungs as Julie's knee's came up into my gut. "Move," Julie pushed against my shoulder, to roll me off her as she grabbed for her gun, peeking around the dumpster to return fire.

There was the sound of car doors slamming and then the squeal of tires peeling out of the lot and I didn't need the curse from Julie's mouth to guess that Michael had just gotten away. I pushed myself to my knees, doubled over, trying to catch my breath.

"You ok?" I asked breathlessly, choking on the stench from the dumpsters.

Julie nodded. "Yeah, thanks for that." She turned to look at me and her eyes drifted back down the alley towards the building. "Dios" She said, her eye's going wide in fear as she locked onto something I couldn't see, leaping to her feet she called out. "Razor!"

I knew from the look in her eye that he'd followed me into the alley and pushed myself to my feet. I followed her, as my lungs shouted for me to stop, until we reached him and Julie dropped to her knees at his side. There was a lot of blood.

"Razor." She grabbed him. "Razor!"

"Check for a pulse." I said.

She put her fingers to his neck and he groaned at her touch, string slightly. I felt the relief from us both and moved to her side trying to asses were all the blood was coming from. I wasn't a medic, but I knew some of the basics. Julie was speaking with the rest of the team and I only caught half of it as she spoke partly in English and part in Spanish.

"He's been hit in the shoulder." I told her. "It's bleeding really bad; and there are a couple of slugs in his vest."

I pulled my shirt off and pressed it to the wound on Razor's shoulder, putting pressure on it while we waited for help. We didn't have to wait long. Ranger and Tank came flying around the corner a few moments later as Hal, Cal and Blaze came pouring out of the back door of the bar. They all had their weapons drawn.

"Cal, Blaze, secure the area. Tank, get the girls." Ranger's orders were followed immediately.

Ranger took my place at Razor's side and Tank pulled me to my feet and moved us both towards Julie. "Are you both ok?" He asked.

Julie's nodded and I flinched when Tank started checking my arm's for injury. "Where are you hit?" He asked.

I shook my head and moved back a step folding my arms over my bra. "It's not my blood." I told him, realizing for the first time that I was covered in dirt, garbage, and Razor's blood. I looked like something out of a chainsaw movie. "Razor's the one who got hit."

"Are you sure?" He asked. "You're both a mess."

"Shilo pushed me into the trash." Julie said. "She saved us. She knocked us out of the way, we're alright."

The next twenty minutes were a blur. Julie and I agreed that we didn't want to go to the hospital so Ranger made arrangements for us to be taken back to RangeMan headquarters and been seen by their teams leading medic, a man named Bobby. Ranger and Hal were going to go with Razor to the hospital and would keep us informed on his progress.

Tank gave me a spare black RangeMan shirt from one of their SUV's and then stood over Julie and I while we spoke with local police. We gave preliminary reports before Tank interrupted. Apparently RangeMan had friends in Trenton PD and they agreed to let us come in tomorrow to finish. Tank wanted us to see the medic right away and I was starting to shiver in the cold. Razor's blood was drying in my hair and making my skin itch.

Tank loaded us into one of the SUV's. "Bobby's waiting for you." He said. "I'm going to stay with Cal and see what we can get from inside. Welcome to Trenton Miss. Lowry."

Blaze got behind the wheel and we road in comfortable silence into the heart of Trenton. The RangeMan building was seven and a half stories high and as far as I could see there were no sign's identifying it as RangeMan.

Blaze parked the car in an underground lot filled with black RangeMan vehicles. "What's with all of the black?" I asked.

Julie chuckled. "Don't ask, Dad only ever dresses in black so when he started the company he made it the uniform. Everyone matches, looks professional and it lets us all dress in the dark without having to worry about finding matching clothes."

Blaze just shrugged as we entered the elevator and he hit the button for the third floor. "Never really thought about it before." He said.

In the light of the elevator I was able to get my first good look at Blaze. He was a fairly attractive man, probably mid twenties, with a sandy blond mop of hair. He had light brown eyes and I could see the top of an old burn scar on the side of his neck, disappearing down below the neck line of his shirt.

Ranger's medic Bobby was waiting for us in a small clinic type room. He ranted how we should have been brought back to him immediately and kicked me straight into a small bathroom to shower.

"Strip off those clothes and use the anit-bacterial soap in there. Scrub well." He said, shutting the door behind me. "We don't want any of Razor's blood to get in your wounds."

I striped and stepped under the warm water glad for the chance to wash the dried blood off. My arms were scraped up from hitting the pavement and I had a dark bruise forming on my hip where I'd landed on Julie's gun.

I remembered the moment of fear I'd felt as Michael raised his gun. He hadn't even cared that his own bodyguard was between him and Julie. If I hadn't reached her in time we all would have wound up in the hospital. I lost myself in my thoughts and was only brought out of them when the water turned cold and I started to shiver. I turned the water off and wrapped myself in a towel realizing my only options were either to put on my old bloody clothes or walk around in the towel that barely covered my butt.

As if hearing my thoughts, there was a soft tap on the door. "Shlio?"

It was Julie. "Yeah?"

"I brought you some clothes." She said. "Your bag's are in Ranger's car, but my clothes should fit you alright for now."

I cracked open the door and blushed when her eyes briefly fell to the top of my towel. She passed me a pair of black sweets and a black RangeMan shirt. "Thanks."

She nodded. "No problem."

I pulled my panties back on and was glad to see that the sweat pants fit. I was a few inches taller than Julie so they hung low, but at least I wouldn't have to walk around in the towel. The shirt was a different story. It would have been short on me to begin with, leaving an inch of my pale skin visible along the wait line of the sweats, but I was also a bust size larger so it left nothing to the imagination. My only choice was to put my gross bra back on or let everyone see my nipples stand out. Gross bra won.

When I finally reentered the room Bobby was working on Julie's side. She has a nasty patch of road burn where she'd hit the ground. Her left arm and side were the worst and she hissed when he rubbed on the marks with salve.

"You must have hit the ground pretty hard Tiger." Bobby commented. "What happened?"

I sat down on a stool near them. "My fault," I said. "I pushed her down."

"You did this?" He asked.

"No," Julie interrupted. "She pushed me out of the way when Michael opened fire on us. We'd both be in worse shape than Razor if she hadn't reacted so quickly. I'll take road burn over gun holes any day."

"Is Razor alright?" I asked, curious to know if Ranger had called while I showered.

Bobby nodded. "He'll live. He's got a couple of cracked ribs from the shells he took to the vest and he'll have to wear a sling for a while. He won't be happy to be out of the felid, but he'll live."

"Doc's keeping him overnight, since it's so late." Julie added. "My dad and the others should be back soon."

Bobby mumbled to himself while he worked and I sat off to the side waiting for my turn. Julie had pulled her hair up into a bun and the strands by her face were wet. Bobby must have ordered a shower for her too. We sat in silence for a while before I started to get antsy. I was about to say something when Julie beat me to it.

"Thanks again Shlio." She said softly, looking up at me from under her lashes. "Michael would have gunned me down if you hadn't been there watching my back."

"I don't really think he was aiming for anyone in particular." I said, tearing my gaze away. "I think he was just trying to distract everyone while his get-a-way car pulled up."

She shrugged and Bobby told her to stop moving while he worked on wrapping her arm. "It was stupid of me to try and stop them without back up." She continued. "Three on one, I didn't stand a chance."

"You already had one down, when I got to the alley." I said, remembering the fallen bodyguard, who'd been at her feet.

"I got him before they knew I was out there, caught him in the arm with a stun gun. The second man was faster them me. He disarmed me and kept me from getting at Michael."

"If you stunned one, we might finally have someone in custody that we can get answers from." Bobby said, trying to cheer her up.

Silence fell over the group again and I was looking for a way to change the subject. "Why do all of the men call you Tiger?" I asked Julie. "I noticed that most of you guys go by nick-names."

"It's because she's fierce." Bobby said. "Once your trainings done, you're going to be unstoppable." He added, a note of pride in his voice as he smiled down at Julie.

Julie rolled her eyes. "No it's because my dad didn't like them calling me Hotrod."

Bobby chuckled. "Give your old man some time." He said in a way that made me think they'd had this conversation before. "You're his only daughter." Bobby continued. "It's going to take him some time to get comfortable with the idea of people shooting at you."

Julie looked over at me and smiled when I meet her eye. "Really," She said. "It's because of my tattoo."

She grabbed the hem of her shirt and winced when she pulled on her raw arm. "Remind me to show it to you sometime ok?" She said, letting go of the shirt. "Later, when I can raise my arms."

I nodded and Bobby had us switch seats. I didn't have nearly as many cut's as Julie, but Bobby wanted to make sure they were all clean so there was no risk of infection after my contact with Razor's blood. He reasured me that Razor didn't have any blood transmitted illnesses, but he'd send off a sample of my blood for testing just in case.

Bobby was dotting my cuts with salve when the door to the clinic flew open and a woman with brown curls and bright blue eyes came storming into the room. She was fuming mad and the smaller man who followed her in looked mad too. She moved over to Julie's side and then tossed Bobby a glare.

"Why didn't anyone call to tell me she'd been hurt?" She demanded. "We just got back from our watch and the guys in the lobby said Razor's been shot too. What happened?"

Bobby nodded. "They ran into some trouble on the way back from the airport."

"Cal and Blaze had eye's on Michael." Julie explained farther. "We tried to tag him at Wild Horse." She went on to cover everything that happened from the time they picked me up, to my volunteering to go in the bar, and the shoot out followed by our fight in the alley. When she mentioned me pushing her out of the way both the woman who'd come in and the man with her turned to look at me.

"Your Shilo?" She asked.

I nodded and jumped when Bobby started tugging on the edge of my shirt. "Lay back." He said. "You've got a nasty bump on your side."

I laid back and flinched when he ran his fingers over the bruise which had already started to swell. "Did someone kick you?" He asked.

"No," I tried to sit back up but he pushed me back down.

"Stop moving." He said. "I want to make sure you haven't damaged your hip."

"I'm fine." I said. "I landed on Julie's gun when I pushed her down."

Bobby chuckled. "It's a mark of honor then." He said.

"What I want to know." The woman with the brown hair said. "Is what you were doing on your own. Why didn't Ranger have someone partnered with you? We work in pairs for a reason."

"Razor and Shilo were with me." Julie said. "Then they went inside, I was just watching the back door. Things got out of hand. You know how fast this stuff can hit the fan."

She nodded, still looking like she wanted to shout at someone. I was getting ready to ask who she was when the man at her side, moved forward and offered me his hand. It was odd trying to shake his hand while I was still laying down, but the odd angle let me get a look at his face before I let the shock of what I saw get through.

His skin was darker then mine, though not as dark as Rangers and his brown hair was cropped short. He was about the same height as me, but the thing that stuck out the mostt were the two teardrop tattoo's below his eye. Old gang marks. There were other tattoo's on his arms and one along the side of his neck, but I didn't stare long enough to see what they were.

"Mi nombre es Hector." He said.

I didn't speak Spanish, but I knew enough to get his name. "I'm Shilo." I said. "Nice to meet you, Hector."

The woman approached me then and shook my hand as well. "My names Stephanie." She said. "Sorry I didn't introduce myself. I'm Ranger's wife." She continued. "Hector here is my partner. Thank you for protecting Julie tonight. We really appreciate you coming down here to help us with this case."

I smiled at her warmth and then dropped my eyes. "I'm sorry about Razor." I said. "I should have known he'd follow me into the alley." I guess I was a little out of practice at working with a partner.

She brushed it off. "He'll recover."

Bobby interrupted her then, giving me the all clear. "Your both going to be stiff tomorrow, Shilo if that swelling get's any worse you call me right away. There's a phone in your room with all of our numbers in it for you to use while you're working with us. Now I want you both in bed. Shilo, don't sleep on that hip."

The mention of bed made me realize just how exhausted I was. It was almost 4 in the morning and my adrenalin was wearing off fast. Julie wanted to stay up until Ranger got back but a glare from Bobby had her promising to wait until morning.

When we left the clinic room. I suddenly realized I didn't know where I was staying. Julie stopped by my side and read my mind. "I'll show you your room." She offered. "It's right across the hall from mine."

We rode the elevator to the fourth floor and she took the key off the hook to the last room on the left. "This one's yours." She said unlocking the door before handing me the key. "Dad will bring your things up when they get back. I'll have to give you a tour of the building."

I followed her inside and she showed me the small kitchenette and the beautiful bathroom. She told me about a woman named Ella who would come get my sizes tomorrow and fit me for a set of my own RangeMan uniforms.

She leaned against the counter and I watched her eye's droop. "You look beat." I said. "Let's both get some sleep and you can show me around tomorrow."

She tossed me a small smile and I felt my pulse jump a bit, she really was beautiful. "Alright." She said sleepily. "If I don't get out of here soon I'm going to crash on your floor."

I walked her to the door and her finger's brushed mine as she left. "Goodnight Shilo." She said, "Welcome to Trenton."

* * *

><p>Darkrose<p>

This is my first story for the Stephanie Plum series. I hope you enjoyed it. Please leave a rearview and let me know if you're interested in seeing more.

Word count without the authors notes- 12,772


	2. Chapter 2

I'd like to give a quick thank you all of my wonderful early reviewers. I'm glad you've enjoyed the story so far and I hope you continue too.

* * *

><p>"Te Amo"<p>

Chapter 2

**Pov- Julie **

I woke up stiff and sore all over. My body complained as I pushed myself to a seated position. I knew I wouldn't be able to fall back asleep so I stumbled over to my kitchen counter and grabbed my phone. I speed dialed Bobby and he answered on the first ring.

"What's up Jewels?" He asked. "You ok?"

"Can I take a shower?" I asked, afraid for the bandages on my side. "And I need something for the pain, I can't stand up straight." The cuts on my side had scabbed overnight and I knew I'd already pulled a few of them back open.

"Come down to three." He said. "I'll give you something for the pain and you can shower here. I'll re-wrap them when you're done."

I agreed and moved into my own bathroom to get ready. I looked a mess. I'd fallen asleep with my hair wet and pinned up so it was sticking out all over the place. I had a good bruise going on my jaw where Michael's man had gotten in a lucky shot. I did what damage control I could on my hair and tied it back until I could shower down stairs. I brushed my teeth and grabbed a clean set of clothes.

Bobby was waiting for me and he peeled away the wraps he'd put on the night before. The wound didn't look nearly as red today, but it was going to take time to re-grow the layers of skin I'd scraped off. I waved him off when he tried to touch the mark on my cheek and insured him that it didn't sting half as bad as the road burn.

"Alright, alright." He relented. "Go shower."

The warm water felt good on my skin but stung on my injury so I didn't stay in long. I climbed out, brushed out my hair and left it to air dry. I pulled on my clothes, which turned into a real chore as I couldn't use my left arm to help clip my bra. I left my shirt off since Bobby would need to see my side anyway.

I hoped up on the exam table and lay down on my side so Bobby could get at my road burn.

"How's it feel?" He asked as he started rubbing more salve on it.

I flinched when he got to one of the cut's I'd pulled open. "Fine, for the most part. Those pain killers you gave me helped a lot."

"Your Dad stopped by after you'd gone to bed." He told me. "I told him you were fine and he should let you sleep."

"Thanks." I said. "He worries a lot."

Bobby smiled at me. "I know that bothers you sometimes, but remember that he loves you. He just doesn't want to see anything happen to you."

"I know."

"You know something else?" Bobby said leaning forward like he was going to tell me a secret. "He's actually very proud that you're doing so well with your training. He was so excited the day you asked to move up here."

"Really?"

He nodded. "Yep, I know you two haven't always been the closest, but he's really trying to make up for not being around when you were little."

"I never blamed him for not being there." I said. "I know he and my mom weren't planning on having any kids when they met."

"It's a good thing they did." Bobby said. "Or your dad never would have gotten any daughters."

Bobby and I talked while he worked on my side. I loved talking to Bobby, he always helped me feel better. He wasn't nearly as emotionally constipated as the rest of my Dad's core team. True, he had a lot of the same military training, but he was also a medic. I figured it was his experience with injured solders that helped him talk about things like his emotions and fears. It made him a good listener too. When you've seen the very worst of mankind, helping me with my small problems was probably a piece of cake.

He finished cleaning my side and re-bandaged it before helping me get into my black RangeMan shirt. "Thanks Uncle Bobby."

"No problem Niña." He kissed the side of my head. "Your Dad's around here somewhere." He said. "He'll want to see for himself that you're ok. And would you send Shilo to me when you see her. I'd like to look at her hip again."

I got back onto the elevator and hit the button for four. I'd left my gun upstairs and needed to grab some of my things. When I stepped off the elevator, I found my dad and Tank in the hall each carrying a pair of dark green bags.

"Are those Shilo's?" I asked.

Tank nodded, "Yep."

"Would you bring them in for us?" Ranger asked, looking me over. "We were about to call Ella down, Bobby said we should let Shilo sleep." I saw his eye's land on the bruise on my cheek.

"I'm fine Ranger." I promised, standing on my toes so I could land a kiss on his cheek. "Bobby said my road burn already looks better too." I took one of the bag's from him. "You should watch out for Steph though, she wasn't happy that no one called her when Razor got hurt last night."

He had the decency to look ashamed for a moment. "She already laid into me for that one." He confessed.

I took his other bag and nodded for him to open the door. Dad and the core team were the only ones who carried master keys. He unlocked the door and I stepped inside the still dark room. It was only 8:30 so I couldn't blame her for still being asleep after our long night. I wish I was.

Shilo was asleep on her bed, lying on her stomach with the blanket pulled up almost over her head. I caught a look at her face as I set the first two bag's down by the end of her bed. She looked peaceful, curled into her pillow, her dark hair spilled out around her head in little curls. I went back to get the next two bag trying to stay quiet so I wouldn't wake her up.

I set the new bags down, not expecting the last one to shift or the bang it made against the floor. Shilo jumped at the noise and flew into a sitting position, drawing a knife from the folds of her bed, a dark look on her face. I jumped back, pulling on my side and gasped at the pain.

Dad and Tank were at my side a moment later and we all froze taking in the seen around us. Shilo realized who had startled her and dropped the knife she was holding onto the bed. "Sorry." She said quickly, glancing around the room, like she'd forgotten where she was. Probably had giving that it was her first night here.

I flushed. "Um Shlio?" I said softly. She glanced over at me and met my eye. My eyes dropped to her bare chest on their own and I couldn't help but noticed that she had great boobs. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I made a mental note that, except for a silver chain around her neck, she liked to sleep naked. I bit down on my lip to keep from mentioning how much I liked the color of her hair against her skin.

"Shit." Shilo said as she realized her sheet had fallen away. She blushed as she snatched her sheet back up and once her chest was covered, I was able to look away. Ranger and Tank had retreated to the doorway, to give her some privacy. I hadn't noticed them leave.

"We're sorry to have startled you Miss Lowry." Ranger called in from the hall. "Julie was just bringing your bag's in for us."

She nodded that she had heard, but made no move to respond. She'd locked eye's on me, and we stood there for a moment. Her mouth turned up at the side in a mischievous grin and in a lower voice, Ranger and Tank wouldn't hear she asked. "See something you like?"

I knew my face had given away my answer before I was able to hide it and the blush on my cheeks darkened. I took a step towards the door. "Sorry I startled you." I apologized again. "Um," I looked for something to say so I could make my escape. I knew there was still a blush on my cheeks, but I hoped my darker skin would hide it so she wouldn't see the affect she had on me. "Bobby would like to see you once you're dressed." I said inching backwards again. "He wants to look at your hip again."

She nodded. "Alright."

I made my escape then, backing out of the room and shutting the door. Ranger and Tank were both still there. If I hadn't been so worried that they would see the flush on my face I might have thought there uncomfortable looks were funny. It took a lot to startle my dad or the guys on his team and I guess neither one had suspected Shilo to be naked and armed.

"Were having a meeting, on five, at 0930," Ranger said. "I'll let Bobby know to inform Shilo."

I nodded. "You want me there?"

"Yes, we'll go over what happened last night."

"I'll be there." I made to move past them to my own room, still needing to get my gun, but also wanting a moment alone to collect my thoughts. No such luck. Ranger told Tank he'd meet him upstairs and followed me in.

I stopped in the kitchen and waited for him to say whatever it was he needed to say. Probably going to tell me off for trying to stop Michael last night alone. I deserved it; that had been a stupid move. No wonder he wouldn't give me field work yet.

"Julie," He started still looking uncomfortable. "I don't have to remind you to keep your relationship with Miss Lowry professional do I?" He asked.

I knew he'd see the surprise in my eyes. I hadn't been expecting that to be his question. I should have known he'd pick up on my odd behavior, he never missed things like that. Or maybe he'd overheard Shilo's question.

"Of course not Dad." I said.

He nodded. "Alright, I just wanted to mention it. You know I've never judged you for your choice, but she's only here for a short time. I don't want you to get hurt."

I didn't mention that it already hurt to think of her leaving. Even if nothing else happened between us, I considered her a friend and I would be sad when she went back home.

"I know."

He laid a kiss on the top of my head and let himself out. I took my time getting my gun and picking at some food I had in my room. I heard the door across the hall open and soft footsteps as Shilo made her way to the elevator and at 9:20 I made my way downstairs to the meeting.

**Pov- Shilo**

Great job dumb ass, I berated myself as Julie hurried out of my room. Pull a knife on the bosses kid and scare the crap out of everyone, freaking brilliant. I picked up my hunting knife and tucked it back in its sheath before returning it to its place under my pillow.

I stood up slowly, wincing as my hip protested. The swelling had gone down, but the bruise was nice and black. I shivered in the morning chill from my open window and started digging through the bag's Julie had brought in, looking for my clothes. I hadn't been able to sleep in the things Julie had let me borrow the night before.

The first bag was all of my work gear, which explained the noise that had woken me up. More of my knife collection, a couple of handguns, and my own Kevlar vest. I found clothes in the next bag, pulling on a fresh set of panties and black jeans. I didn't have any black tops so I'd have to wait for my set of RangeMan clothes. I settled on a dark purple blouse that buttoned in the front.

I brushed my hair and my teeth quickly before peeking into the hall. No one was there so I snuck into the elevator, hopping I could at least make it back to the clinic without embarrassing myself any further.

The elevator gave me a moment to think and even though this morning had been a disaster, I was feeling fairly smug at how easily I'd affected Julie. I'd kept my sexual orientation a secret from the moment I'd known I wasn't attracted to men. I'd never told Col. Lowry and I'd certainly never mentioned it around any of the solders I'd worked with. The only one who knew was Col. Lowry's youngest boy Adam.

Adam was my favorite of Col. Lowery's sons. They all excepted me as there little sister, but I'd connected with Adam almost immediately. Probably because, like me, Adam hadn't wanted to be military. I'd been the only one to speak up in his defense when Adam announced he wasn't going to join the army, in favor of moving to California on his own and excepting a scholarship he'd earned to a culinary school there.

My own experience as a mostly closeted Lesbian did only one thing for me. It gave me great Gaydar. I'd had my suspicions last night that Julie and I might play for the same team. After the blush she'd tried to hide this morning, I was almost positive.

"Good morning Shilo." Bobby greeted me with a big smile as I knocked on the doorway to the clinic and let myself in.

"Morning." I said.

He nodded over to the same table I'd used last night and had me sit down. He must have noticed my trouble getting settled because when he stopped at my side he held out a pair of Tylenol and a small glass of water.

"You're a saint." I said tossing the pills back fast.

He grinned at that. "I try my best."

He started with my arm, taking of the bandages and whipping the cuts clean. They had scabbed overnight and already looked better. "You won't have to wrap these anymore, if you don't want too." He said. "I'd just take it easy for the next day or two so you don't pull them open."

I nodded. "Alright."

"How's your hip feeling?" He asked, motioning for me to lay back.

He moved up the side of my shirt and pressed on the edges of the bruise. I managed not to flinch until he pressed on the center.

"Sorry." He said, when I pulled back.

"It was better until you touched it." I said sarcastically.

He laughed. "That reminds me of the joke where the guy walks into the doctor's office and says 'Doc, it hurts when I do this.'"

"Then don't do that." I said, finishing the lame joke.

He chuckled again. "It looks fine." He declared. "I prescribe a hot shower and no extraneous exercise until the bruise starts to fade. I'll make sure there's some more Advil up in your room."

"Thanks." I said climbing off the table, glad that the pain pills were already helping.

"Feel free to come back if it starts to bother you." He said adding. "Or if you want someone to talk to." I smiled at his offer and he continued. "Now you should go upstairs and clean up. Ranger wants you in the meeting this morning on five."

"What time?" I asked, standing up, glad to see that my side didn't hurt to bad anymore.

"9:30, you can ask anyone on the floor what room to go to, they'll all point you in the right direction."

I hurried up to my room and started the shower. The warm water was heaven on my sore muscles. I forced myself out, before I could get to relaxed by the water. I didn't want to risk being late to my first meeting and ruing the 'great' impression I'd already made this morning.

I stepped into the bedroom wrapped in a towel and an older woman was standing near the bed laying out clothes.

"Hello?" I asked, stopping a few yards from her.

She turned to face me with a warm smile. "Good morning Shilo." She said. She introduced herself as Ella the buildings caregiver and motioned to the pile of black clothes she'd brought in for me.

"I had to guess your size, but I think I got it right." She said, holding out a set of RangeMan clothes. "Go try these on and I'll see how they fit."

I took the clothes and backed into the bathroom. The uniform was solid black, like everyone else's straight down to a set of black panties and a black bra, both embroidered with the word RangeMan in black thread. I slid on the panties and was impressed that both the black cargo pants and the v-neck shirt fit me perfectly. The cargo's hung low and the shirt was tight so just a slit of skin showed when I moved. It was flirty without being too much.

I brushed out my hair and let it hang loose to dry before adding a swipe of bright green eyeliner to my top lids. I'd wear the uniform because Ranger would expect it, but that wasn't going to stop me from adding a dash of color for myself.

I stepped out of the bathroom and Ella gave me her seal of approval. "You look very nice." She said. "But, you won't be able to wear that charm in the field." She said pointing to the pendant, I always wore. The chain was silver and just long enough that I could pull it over my head without having to unclip it.

I nodded along although I'd never take it off unless directly ordered too. Ella showed me the black boot's she'd brought in along with a drawer full of black socks and more black panties. She'd left a covered plate on the counter in my kitchen and promised I'd like it.

Once she let herself out I finished getting dressed, adding a knife to my boot as well as my thigh and my .40 Smith and Weston at the small of my back. The plate Ella had left for me had an omelet on it stuffed with bits of ham and veggies as well as a side of seasoned rice. It was amazing. Ella had also left a bowl of fruit on the counter and I found a small collection of other food's in the fridge, including bottled water and apple juice.

I finished off Ella's amazing food and left the dishes to dry in the sink along with a small thank you note. On my way out I grabbed my new ring of key's, one for my room and two other's I didn't know, along with the black phone Bobby had told me about. As an afterthought, I tucked my necklace into my shirt where no one would see it so it wouldn't be against uniform.

I bumped into Lester in the hallway as he was coming out of his own apartment and he smiled when he saw me. "Morning Shilo, you look good in black."

"Thanks."

"Fair warning," He said. "Everyone on five knows you sleep with a knife."

I groaned. "How did that get out?"

He laughed as we stepped onto the elevator and road up to five. "A few of the guys might have overheard Tank telling me about it in the gym this morning."

I rolled my eyes. "Great."

"Don't be embarrassed." He said nudging me. "If anything it just proves you've got good reflexes."

"She's just lucky I didn't throw it." I said. "I almost killed one of my step brothers once, cuz he snuck into my room and scared me. I grabbed the knife and had thrown it before I remembered that I'd just gotten home from my last mission. Another two inches to the left and I'd have skewered him."

"Might be best if you don't keep it under your pillow while you're here then." He advised. "No one in this building is going to hurt you."

Lester led the way and we walked into the small conference room right at 9:30. Ranger was sitting at the head of the table, Tank to his right, Stephanie to the left. Bobby was there along with Hector and Hal. Lester took his seat and I took the only open seat next to Julie.

She smiled when I sat down and passed me a cup of coffee. Once everyone was seated, Ranger started talking. "First off, I'm sure everyone is curious about Razor's condition. He's recovering well, Cal and Blaze are with him now. As soon as the doctor discharges him, they'll bring him here so we can all see him for ourselves."

He looked over at me. "Were you able to overhear anything yesterday that might help us?"

I shook my head. "No, they talked about their drinks, the music, and one of the waitresses O'Donnell's man took a fancy too; although the guard who spoke to the bar tender did speak fairly clear English."

Ranger nodded. "We believe that was the man O'Donnell gunned down in the ally. He did not survive the drive to the hospital. We do however have the other guard in a holding cell downstairs. Julie managed to stun him so he was out of the way when Michael opened fire." He turned back to me. "You'll listen in on our interrogation later; see if you can get anything. If he won't talk to us, you can speak with him directly. Do you have interrogation training?"

"Are we talking good cop/ bad cop interrogation," I asked. "Or something more along the lines of water boarding and bamboo slivers?"

Lester chuckled, and Ranger shook his head. "We save the water board for special occasions." He said. "If we can't get him to talk, we'll have to hand him over to TPD. Because of the suspicion of murder charge they are also hunting for O'Donnell."

"Julie and Shilo both need to go down to the station today as well and give their statements about last night." Ranger continued. "Steph, I'd like you to take them along with Blaze when he gets here. He needs to speak with them as well."

He talked for a bit more about a couple of other FTA's the company had as well as one of their client's who was stopping by to talk about have his security system upgraded. I tuned out this part of the meeting. I was just here for the O'Donnell case. I let my eye's wonder over to Julie and smiled when I caught her looking at me. Just as Tank was talking about the newly posted surveillance schedule, the door opened and Razor walked in.

"Mind if I join in?" He asked.

Everyone paused to say hello and welcome him back and then Razor dropped himself in the seat next to me that Hal had pulled over. Except for the sling he looked unharmed. Tank finished up the meeting and dismissed everyone.

I leaned against the table as the guys made their way out and spoke to Razor. "How are you feeling?" I asked.

He spun his chair to face me. "I've been better." He admitted. "Doc say's I'll have to wear the sling for almost a month, so I'm out of the filed until then."

"I'm sorry." I said.

He shrugged. "It wasn't your fault." He said. "I should have looked before I jumped into the ally. I heard you warn Julie about the gun. I was trying to get out there and help."

"I was wearing the wire." I reminded him. "If I'd thought you would follow me I could have told you to stop."

"I'm alive, that's what counts."

Steph came over to us and gave Razor a hug. "I'm glad you're ok Razor." She said, before placing a kiss on his cheek. "Have you spoken to the police yet?"

He shook his head. "No, Ranger wouldn't let them in to see me yesterday after the surgery. Remind me to thank him for that. Anesthesia really leaves me in a bad mood."

She smiled like this fact was an old joke between them. "We know. You feeling up to a trip down to TPD? I've got to take Julie and Shilo for their statements as well. You can come with us and get it out of the way."

He nodded. "You bet."

"Great," She said. "I'll grab Blaze and meet you all down stairs."

Julie, Razor and I walked down stairs together into the giant RangeMan garage. It was then I remembered the extra key's on my key ring. I'd meant to ask Ranger about them.

"Do either of you know what these are for?" I asked holding the ring up. "I know the one is for my room, but what are the others for?"

Julie pointed out the longer key. "That one will work on all of the company SUV's. I'm not sure about the other one."

"What's the number on it?" Razor asked. I glanced at the key and found a small number scratched on it.

"5."

He nodded. "That's to the gun room on the fifth floor. You can help yourself to any of the gear or ammo in there."

The elevator opened behind us and Stephanie came out with Blaze in tow. "Alright everyone." She said motioning to one of the large black SUV's. "Saddle up, I'm driving."

"Aww," Razor said, pouting at her. "I wanted to drive."

"Yeah, cuz that would work out." Blaze said rolling his eyes. Julie, Blaze and I got into the back so Razor could sit up front and not worry about bumping his bum shoulder. Steph got in the front seat and waved goodbye to the camera in the corner as we pulled out.

Blaze wasn't nearly as large as some of the RangeMen I'd seen so far, but with all three of us in the back seat we were still sitting thigh to thigh, my skin warm where it touched Julie's though our clothes. Julie was in the center seat, reclined slightly against the back of the seat. "I can give you your tour of RangeMan when we get back." She offered.

"Alright." I said, when she waited for my answer.

"It shouldn't take too long." She promised. "The buildings not very big, but it has a lot of parts. There's the gym, and the gun range down in the basement. You've already seen most of five, that's the work floor. Four is the onsite apartments. Bobby's clinic is on three, along with some larger meeting halls. Ella and her husband live on six. Seven is Steph and Ranger's onsite apartment."

What about eight?" I asked remembering the little half floor I'd seen from the street.

Julie shook her head. "It's not really another floor. Just a couple of bed rooms and an extra bathroom Dad, Err Ranger," She corrected herself. "Added to the seventh floor loft when the boy's were born."

Stephanie chuckled from her seat. "The extra space was a God send." She said glancing back at me in the review mirror. "Carlos and I usually stay in our off site house with the boys." She explained. "But sometimes the job requires us to be nearby and the boy's are too young to stay home alone."

Julie shook her head. "It's too dangerous for them to stay home alone."

"Danger is the nature of the job." Steph agreed. "We both feel better with them near us."

"Will I get to meet your boy's?" I asked.

She nodded. "You'll probably have the chance to see them once they get off school today. We're all going to be staying at Haywood until this O'Donnell case is wrapped up."

She pulled her wallet out of her pocket and flipped it open so I could see the picture in it. "That's Anthony Carlos on the right." She said, passing me the photo. "And Miguel Ricardo on the left."

The photo was of Ranger laying in the grass, one boy laying at each of his sides. The boys themselves were identical. Shaggy, straight black hair, their skin a few shades lighter than their fathers, and each with Steph's blue eyes. The photo was amazing.

"They look just like Ranger." I said, passing her wallet back.

She grinned. "Except for my eyes," She agreed. "That's what everyone says."

TPD was a little, uninspired, brick building in the middle of town. The lot was filled with old, beat up blue and whites and undercover cars that had seen better days. Stephanie parked right up by the front doors and then led our group inside.

She greeted the woman at the front counter by name and we were allowed inside once she'd seen everyone's RangeMan badge. Stephanie held out a badge to me when the woman looked in my direction. "We had this one made up for your stay with us." She said.

The badge was black with my photo and some basic information on it. I took it and tucked it into my pocket once I'd been cleared to go inside. Several of the officers waved at Stephanie as we walked through until she stopped outside one office in particular and knocked on the wood frame.

"Knock knock." She said to whoever was inside.

"Steph, this is a pleasant surprise." The man who come out of the office to greet us had dark brown hair and brown eyes, he was about 6 feet tall and looked like he'd comfortable reached his mid forties with no plans to retire.

He looked over our assembled group and when his eyes landed on me, I spotted an old knife scare running through one of his eyebrows.

"You have someone new with you." He said with a grin. "I didn't think Manoso was in the habit of hiring women."

Steph nodded and glanced over at me. "Shilo, this is Detective Joe Morelli." She introduced him. "He act's as our liaison whenever RangeMan and TPD work together. Joe," She continued waving a hand at me. "This is Miss Shilo Lowry. RangeMan has brought her in to help us with the O'Donnell case."

This caught the detective's interest and he looked me over again. "Do you have prior knowledge of the O'Donnell family?" He asked.

I caught the look Steph threw me, which meant I should watch what I say. RangeMan and the TPD were both working to catch O'Donnell, but that didn't mean I should give them everything I knew right off the bat. If RangeMan didn't find him first, they wouldn't get the money for his bond.

"No Sr." I said easily, feeling myself slid into an at ease position, hand behind my back, face blank so as not to give anything away. "I was just brought in to act as a close reference interpreter." I explained.

Detective Morelli caught my change in position and seemed to recognize the military stance. I was guessing some form of military service was in his own history, probably Navy. He did however seem pleased with my answer and returned his attention back over to Stephanie.

"I assume your here to finish giving testimonies about the incident at Wild Horse yesterday?" He asked.

She nodded. "Yes, all four of them were present during the shooting, but for medical reason's left the scene before they were able to speak with police."

"Your still a magnet for crazy's Cupcake." Detective Morelli said, headding back into his office.

"It wasn't my fault," Steph defended like this was an old argument. "I wasn't even there."

Morelli made a couple of calls on his phone and then all four of us were taken to different rooms, at the same time, to give our statements. I kept my recount short and simple making sure to spend more time on the unknown men who shot up the bar rather than the shoot out in the ally. I accounted for my injuries as well as Julie's and Razor's and explained why Blaze had left the scene to drive us back to RangeMan.

"Have you done work for RangeMan in the past?" The officer who was doing my testimony asked. He'd interrupted me a few times so far to ask me questions like this.

"I don't see what that has to do with the shoot out at Wild Horse." I said.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Just curious," He said. "Ranger doesn't often bring in new people for his team."

"I volunteered." I told him. "Ranger is a friend of my boss back home. I heard he could use the help of a translator so I flew out to see if I could be of any assistance."

"So you speak Irish?" He asked.

I nodded once, although I was pretty sure my accent gave the answer to that question away, and bit my tongue to keep from correcting him. The language was called Celtic, not Irish. We finished up shortly after and when I reentered the hallway, I saw that I was the last one to finish. I moved over to stand by Razor and Julie as Steph talked quickly with Detective Morelli. Once he walked away she nodded for the rest of us to follow her out.

Back in the car, everyone stayed silent until Steph pulled out of the lot.

"What took you so long?" Razor asked.

I shrugged. "He kept asking about my involvement with RangeMan and what my interest in the case was."

"Probably jealous that TPD doesn't have a translator on their staff." Blaze said.

The rest of the trip was quiet until we pulled into the RangeMan lot and then Julie grabbed my hand as we entered the main lobby. "Come on I'll give you your tour."

We started in the basement where there was indeed a large gym and a gun range for the staff to use. "You use your badge to let yourself in." Julie explained sliding her badge threw the lock on the door and it clicked open.

The gym was filled with all of your basics including a row of treadmills and mats for sparing. One the far wall I caught sight of a rack of fencing swords. Julie must have seen where I was looking because she asked. "Do you know how to fence?"

I nodded. "Yes, I have for several years."

"Too bad Razor's benched." She said. "He's really the only one who uses them. He would have liked the chance to spar with someone."

"Do you fence?" I asked.

She shook her head. "Not really, Razor's showed me some of the basic movies, but I'm not very good."

"I could teach you some things while I'm here." I offered. "Then you can be his sparring partner."

She smiled at me though it didn't reach her eyes. "I'd like that."

I followed along as she showed me the first floor. Mostly it was just lobby and a couple of conference rooms. We took the stairs to the second floor and found storage, a tech room where RangeMan stored the equipment it used on security jobs, and a door guarded by a large man in black.

"That's where the holding cell is." Julie explained as we passed by.

We stopped on three just long enough to say hi to Bobby in his office, before moving past our rooms on four, back to five.

Julie showed me were all the office work was done, and introduced me to more of the men working there. She pointed out Ranger and Stephanie's office as well as the offices where Tank, and Lester worked.

Once we found ourselves back in the small conference room we'd meet in this morning she sat down in Ranger's seat and put her feet up on the table. "That's pretty much all of it," She said. "except for the private apartments upstairs. Any questions?"

I shook my head. "Not about the building, do you know when Ranger's going to want to talk to the man we caught last night?"

She shook her head. "My guess would be after lunch. I know they tried to talk to him last night be he wouldn't say much, and whatever he did say was all in Celtic."

I sat down in the chair next to her. "That's what I figured."

We were quiet for a moment before she broke the silence. "What is your tattoo for?" She asked. I watched as she reached forward and ran one of her fingers along the seven small stars I had tattooed along the inside of my left wrist.

"They're for my family." I told her, not going into details.

She looked up at me; her soft fingers never leaving my wrist. "I'm sorry." She said gently. "I didn't mean to bring up sad memories. I know your file said that your family had passed away."

I nodded, pulling my gaze away from her soft brown eyes. "It was a long time ago. I was very young."

"What happened?" She asked. "If you don't mind telling me."

I glanced down at our hands, letting my eye's rake over the stars. I'd gotten them the day I turned eighteen. Col. Lowry had yelled at me all afternoon. I'd never volunteered information about my family before, but in that moment I wanted to share something with her. Even if I couldn't tell her everything.

"It was just my Grandma, my Mom, me and my two brothers at the time." I told her. We were the only one's who'd escaped the last attack. We'd moved to a small town and bought a cute little house near the woods hopping no one would find out where we'd gone. "There was a house fire."

"You were the only one who got out?" she asked.

I nodded. "My older brother, Ryan, carried me outside, I was only nine. He went back inside to look for our little brother and he never got back out."

"I'm sorry." She said again. "I shouldn't have asked."

"It's alright." I said. "I wouldn't have told you if I didn't want you to know. What about your family?" I asked to change the subject. "I know Ranger's your father, but Stephanie's not your mom right?"

She smiled, letting go of my hand as she sat back in her chair. "That's right," She said. "My dad met my mom, Rachel, when they were a lot younger. He was about to get shipped out and she was going to school. Needless to say, they weren't really planning on a baby."

We chuckled. "You were an 'Oops' baby?" I asked.

She nodded. "Yeah, they got married so I would have Dad's last name, but the marriage only lasted a year or so. I don't blame them though," She said. "I know they both love me, they just weren't in love with each other."

"Was it just you and your mom growing up?" I asked

She nodded. "For a little while it was, then my mom married a nice guy named Ron and they had two boys together." She Grinned. "Four half-brothers and I'm the only girl."

I smiled at that, realizing we had more in common than I thought. "I had four brothers too." I told her.

"I thought you said two, earlier?" She asked.

I nodded. "I did, I had four brothers in all, three older, one younger. The eldest two died along with my father a few years before the house fire."

"Fate was not kind to you." She said.

"No," I agreed. "At one point I had a very large family, now it's just me." The stars on my wrist were for my immediate family, the rest of them were on my back.

"Sounds awful lonely to me." She said.

I shrugged. "I don't mind being on my own so much."

We chatted easily until noon when Julie's stomach let out a loud growl. I laughed at the blush on her face and then snapped my mouth shut as my own stomach let me know it was time for food.

"Ha," She said. "You're hungry too."

"Where do we get lunch around here?" I asked.

She waved me to follow her. "Come on, I'll show you the break room."

The break room was a neat room with green walls. A counter ran the length of one side filled with all kinds of sandwiches and fruit and veggie platters. I grabbed a sandwich and followed Julie over to sit with a few guys who'd waved to us when we first walked in.

We sat down with Hector, Blaze and Razor and dug into our food.

"Anything new?" Julie asked.

Hector shook his head. "Same old thing." He said his Spanish ascent very thick.

"Our watch teams haven't reported any movement yet today." Blaze said. "Our best chance at a lead is going to be the guy down stairs."

I listened to the comfortable chatter around the room while we ate, saying hello to a few more men who came over to introduce themselves or say hi to Julie.

Just as we were finishing up Ranger walked in. Tank was right behind him as the pair walked over to our table. He stopped at my side and nodded when I looked up.

"As soon as you're done, we'll head down and talk to O'Donnell's man."

I nodded and pushed the last bite of my sandwich away, suddenly wishing I'd eaten less. "I'm ready."

He nodded. "This way."

I stood to follow and Julie came too, a determined look on her face. We all got in the elevator together and rode to the second floor. When we came to the guarded door Ranger turned to Julie. "Go up stairs Julie." He said.

Julie shook her head. "No way, I caught him; let me at least listen in."

Ranger seemed to think for a bit before nodded, "You stay in the recording room."

"Deal."

We followed Ranger down a short hallway and he motioned for us to enter the first door on the right ahead of him. Once inside we found Bobby and Lester already sitting at stools in front of a row of monitors and other equipment. In front of them was a large, what I'm guessing, was a two way mirror so we could see into the attached room.

In the room next to us was the man Julie had stunned. He was sitting in a plane chair with his hands cuffed in front of him to a plane table. The rest of the room was bare except for the overhead lights.

I moved up to the glass to get a better look. He looked to be in his mid thirties, well muscled with black hair. His eyes were lighter, though I couldn't tell the exact color through the dark glass. He was still in his slacks and dress shirt from the night before, but someone had removed his jacket.

"Has he said anything yet?" I asked.

Ranger shook his head. "Very little, you can look at a clip of our first conversation later. For now listen and see what you get from him." He handed me a small black microphone. "I'm wearing an ear piece," He said. "Translate anything he says for me."

I nodded my understanding. Julie took a seat near Lester and I kept my place at the window as Ranger and Tank left the room. A moment later, they entered the room next door and the captive lifted his head to look at them.

Ranger and Tank split up so they were each standing on one end of the table, looking very menacing.

"Who are you?" Ranger asked.

The man at the table said nothing.

"Do you understand English?" Tank asked.

Again nothing.

"What is O'Donnell's purpose for being in Trenton?" Ranger questioned.

The captive looked back and forth between Ranger and Tank before glancing at the two-way mirror. "ba choir duit a mharú dom anois agus iad a shábháil na trioblóide." He said, his face blank.

I lifted the mic to my lips. "He said, you should kill him now and save them the trouble."

"Who are you afraid of?" Ranger asked, moving to stand in front of the man. "Who is going to kill you, O'Donnell?"

The man's eyes narrowed. Clearly, he understood enough English to realize that Ranger now understood him.

"We can protect you from O'Donnell." Ranger said. "If you will work with us."

The man shook his head. "Aon duine éalaíonn O'Donnell."

"No one escapes O'Donnell." I translated, smirking at the glass in front of me. I'd escaped him, and I'd see the day I got my revenge.

Ranger and Tank continued to throw out questions. Asking what O'Donnell was doing and where he was. They explained that we only needed Michael, that he was wanted for questioning in a murder.

The man never said anything. He watched them with a blank face, looking very much like a man who'd excepted that fact that he would die, and saw no reason to fight. After another fifteen minutes, I spoke into the mic again.

"Let me come in Ranger." I said. "You're not going to get anything from this guy. He's more afraid of O'Donnell then he is of you.

Ranger looked at Tank, and communicating silently, they both left the room. When they rejoined us, Ranger had Tank give me his earpiece.

"I'll go in with you," He said. "I'll stay out of the way in less there's trouble."

I nodded. "Anything in particular you want me to try and get?"

"Just the same things we were asking before."

I pulled my hair up into a ponytail and put the earpiece in, letting Tank take the mic so he could talk to us. "We're recording," Tank reminded me. "Don't worry about translating while you're in there, we can re-watch it later if he says anything.

I nodded.

"Be careful." Julie said as we left the room and I followed Ranger into the prisoner's room.

Again he lifted his head as we walked in, ignoring Ranger complete as his eyes locked on me. He grinned motioning with his chin towards Ranger, who'd taken up a post against the wall near the door, arms crossed over his chest. "Mar sin go bhfuil tú cén fáth a thuigeann sé dom." (So you are why he understands me)

I nodded my head once. "Sarah is ainm dom. Cad is féidir leat insint dom faoi Michael O'Donnell?"(My name is Sarah. What can you tell me about Michael O'Donnell?"

He smiled at me. "Tá O'Donnell aon spraoi, cén fáth nach bhfuil tú inis dom fút féin, álainn." (O'Donnell's no fun, why don't you tell me more about yourself beautiful.)

I shook my head. "Gan dul a tharlóidh" (Not going to happen) "Inis dom rud éigin chun é a dhéanamh fiú a chosaint." (Tell me something to make it worth protecting you.) He already knew all of the question's Ranger had asked.

He was quiet for several moments before he glared at me. "Tá tú sprao faoin oiread agus is mar an faobhar Chúba agus a chara dorchadas."

I moved quickly to his side and sucker punched him. He snarled at me, and I waved Ranger off when he moved to my side.

"Seans go deireanach." (Last chance) I warned keeping a scowl on my face.

When he kept his mouth shut, I shrugged and made to leave, Ranger followed me.

"fanacht" (Wait) he called.

I stopped near the door, and Ranger moved to stand behind me. "Yes?" I asked.

He watched me with cold, calculating eye's before letting out a small breath and speaking. "Michael O'Donnell is a spoiled little punk, who manages to get himself in trouble where ever we go." He said, speaking heavily accented English. "If you can put him away you'd be doing us all a favor. We only watch over him because he's family." He paused for a moment. "I don't know what the older O'Donnell's are planning, my job was to watch over Michael. All I know is they came to Trenton to speak with one of your local families; they're here to get someone."

"As in kidnap?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Most likely."

"What is your name?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Not important, I've given you what I know. Is it enough to protect me from O'Donnell?"

I moved to his side and grabbed the band of silver around his wrist. He tried to pull his hands away from me, but the cuffs kept him in place. The crest on the band wouldn't give us his first name, but it would give us a surname. He glared at me again as I took the bracelet and left the room with Ranger.

Back in the main room with the other's I tossed the silver band to Lester. "You can use that to get a name."

Lester spun the bracelet around and glanced at the crest under the light. "What is it?" He asked.

I pulled the silver chain around my neck out from under my shirt and held the pendant up so they could see the similarity between it and the one on the bracelet. "It's his family crest." I explained, tucking my own back under my shirt. "The other body guard at the bar was wearing an identical one. It will give you a surname, if you can match it. They're all different, but if this man is hanging out with O'Donnell he must be part of an older family."

Ranger took the band and looked it over before passing it back to me. "You know the most about them. We'll make identifying it your task, until we have more to go on. I'll assign you one of the computers on five to use while you're here."

I nodded.

"Why did you hit him?" Lester asked.

I hesitated and Ranger raised an eyebrow at me. "He said I was about as much fun and you and Tank." I explained looking at Ranger. "Only he didn't call you Ranger and Tank. He used very rude words for Latino and African Americans. He deserved to get hit."

Lester let out a bark of laughter and was shortly joined by both Julie and Bobby. Tank smirked at me and said. "Thanks."

Ranger nodded. "I would have hit him too. Good job in there."

I shrugged, "No problem, if he asks about me I told him my name was Sarah."

Lester led Julie and me back to five and showed me to one of the empty computers. "You can use this one while you're here." He said, using a marker to write my name on a piece of paper before pining it to the edge of the cubby.

"You can leave the bracelet in the drawer." He said, "Work on it when you have free time. We'll go over your interrogation in tomorrow mornings meeting so you can tell everyone together what he said."

I nodded. "I'll start working on it right away."

"No time." Julie interrupted. "We need to leave in an hour."

"For what?" I asked.

She grinned. "I knew you weren't paying attention to Tank in the meeting this morning."

"What did I miss?"

She smirked. "You're on surveillance with me this evening. They want you to be part of the investigation on all levels." She said, "Were going to go relive Cal and Zero. We'll watch over one of the places the O'Donnell's have been known to visit."

Oh, maybe I should have listened in the meeting. Julie and I freshened up in our rooms and grabbed our gear. I got a utility belt from the ammo room and filled it with my gun, handcuffs, extra ammo cases, and one of my knives. We weren't supposed to engage the O'Donnell's by ourselves if we found them, just call for backup and watch them.

On our way downstairs, we ran into Stephanie and Lester. Tagging along behind them, backpacks over their shoulders were her twin boys. They looked about a year older then the children in the photo she showed me had been, but it was definitely the same set of boys. They looked just like mini Rangers.

Steph waved us over and called to the boys. "Anthony, Miguel come over here."

The boy's came up to her side and smiled at us. "Hi Julie" They said together.

"Boy's this is Shilo." Steph said. "She's helping us out with work this week."

"Hi." The boy she'd called Anthony smiled at me.

"Hello" I said. "Nice to meet you."

Miguel spoke up next pointing to the gun on my hip. "Your gun looks like Mom's." He said.

"No it doesn't." Anthony said. "It's bigger then mom's."

Steph rolled her eyes. "No guns." She said sternly. "I swear you two didn't get any of my genes at all. They even eat like him."

Julie chuckled at a inside joke, I was clearly missing.

"It's not your fault Steph." Lester said with his own chuckle, slinging an arm around her shoulder. "It's a boy thing. Gun's are cool."

"Not when they're ten years old." She said.

"But Dad said he might get us bebe guns for our birthday this year." Anthony said quickly. "He thinks were old enough to start learning."

Steph's eyes narrowed and her hands fell to her hips. "Oh does he?"

"Some bodies in trouble." Lester said in a sing-song voice. "And for once it's not me."

"What about paintball?" Miguel asked. "Can we have one of those?"

Stephanie's shoulders dropped marginally, "Maybe, I'll speak with your father." She said.

Julie chuckled and tugged on my arm. "We'll see you later guys, we've got to go."

"Bye Julie." The boy's called racing off for the elevator.

I put my flack vest on the floor by my feet as I got into the passenger's side of one of the large RangeMan SUV's. Julie drove across town and pulled up behind another SUV hidden in the shadows of a secluded ally. The driver waved at us before pulling away and we took their spots, watching over a fancy looking restaurant called Rossini's.

* * *

><p>~Darkrose<p>

Leave me a review and let me know what you think. I really appreciate all of your encouragement.

Forgive me if my translations aren't perfect. I'm only a few months into my Celt lessons so I'm using an online translator to help.

Word count- 8850


	3. Chapter 3

Ok, so I'm really starting to love this story and this chapter is by far my favorite so far. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Leave me a review and let me know what you think. Is there another Pov you'd be interested in seeing?

* * *

><p>"Te Amo"<p>

Chapter 3

**Pov- Julie**

Shilo and I had been sitting outside of Rossini's for over an hour now in comfortable silence, each of us lost in our own thoughts while we scanned the restaurant for any site of the O'Donnell family. I kept my eyes on the restaurant, but my thoughts wondered. Lately it seemed all I could focus on was Shilo. I was so curious to learn more about her. I wanted to know everything, to bad she only talked about as much as my dad and his men. It has got to be an Army thing.

"Shilo, why didn't you want to join the Army?"

She glanced over at me, like I'd pulled her from deep thoughts and shrugged. "It was never something I wanted to do; I guess I'm just not very patriotic."

"But, you've done some Black Ops stuff right?" I pressed. "Like what my father and his team have done?"

She looked up and met my eye and I was amazed at how green her eyes were. "No," She said softly. "The work I did was not like your fathers."

"How many missions did you do?" I asked, glad that she was speaking and eager to keep her going, if for nothing more than the fact that I loved the sound of her voice.

Her eyes darkened, like I'd brought up painful memories, it was a look I recognized from whenever Dad or Lester were telling me about their old Army days.

"Just two," She said. "and I'm not at liberty to speak about them. After that they asked me to join up full time and I just couldn't do it."

"Why not?"

"I'm not built for that kind of work." She said after a moment. "I guess you could say I wasn't strong enough. I'd only done two missions and I'd seen enough senseless violence to keep me from sleeping at night. It takes a different kind of person to willingly throw yourself into that line of work over and over again."

"I don't think that makes you weak." I told her honestly. "I know I'd never be able to do it," I continued. "Admitting that it upset's you just makes you human. With some of the story's Dad and Uncle Lester have told me I'm surprised either of them is able to sleep without nightmares."

She grinned. "Lester is your uncle?"

I chuckled. "Yeah he is, although I usually call Tank and Bobby uncle too. Lester is Ranger's birth cousin."

"You related to any more of the RangeMen?" She asked.

I nodded, "Steph calls them the Merry Men. I don't know if you've meet Ram yet, but he's married to one of Ranger's sisters, and Hector is some sort of second or third cousin. I'm not exactly sure about that one. Most of the guys are like family though."

"That sounds nice," She said. "The company I work with isn't nearly as close. Then again I mostly do comp and monitor work so I don't get in the field with them very often."

"That would drive me nuts." I told her. "I can't wait to get into the field more often."

"Did you always want to work at RangeMan?" She asked.

I shook my head. "No, I didn't think about working at RangeMan until my second year of high school. I always knew I wanted to come to Trenton though."

"Why?" She asked.

I grinned at her as a brilliant idea popped into my head. "How about we make this more interesting?" I asked. "We play twenty questions; and you have to answer everything honestly."

"There are things in my past I can't talk about." She said, but I interrupted her.

"Government things don't count." I reassured her. "If you legally can't talk about something I'll ask a different question."

"What if it's something I don't want to tell you?" She asked softly.

"Then your aloud to pass, traditionally, in the game not answering a question would mean you take a shot."

"I'm betting were not allowed to drink on the job." She said sarcastically.

"No, Dad would kill us." I agreed. "but we can make up for any chickens at another time. We'll just keep track of how many we each get for now."

"You're not twenty-one." She said.

I rolled my eyes in a fashion that would have made Steph proud. "Not you too, I am perfectly capable of monitoring how much I drink. I don't drink often, and I've never gotten completely trashed before. I'll be twenty-one in just over three weeks."

"Ok, ok." She relented. "Fine, we play, but we spread the questions out over my time here and the night before I leave we cash in on the shots and get shitfaced."

I laughed; her accent was so sexy. "Please say shitfaced again."

Her eyes narrowed. "Are you making fun of my accent?"

"Is that your first question?" I shot back with a grin hoping she would understand that I was just joking with her.

She snapped her mouth shut. "No."

I was worried that I might have offended her so I took her hand and squeezed her fingers, loving the tingles that always showed up whenever I touched her skin. "This isn't part of the game, but just so you know I'd never make fun of your accent. I actually think it's sexy as hell."

She blushed and I had to work to keep the smile off my face. It was good to know that she seemed to be as affected by me as I was by her.

"Is this your way of flirting with me?" She asked, turning those bright green eyes on me. She was searching my face for something, some answer. I don't know what she saw in my eye's but she smiled softly at me and my skin flamed.

I smirked and had to bite my tongue to keep myself from mentioning how pretty her eyes were. Dad wouldn't like it, but I couldn't help myself. I shouldn't have promised not to flirt with her. "Maybe just a little bit, that doesn't bother you does it?" I had to know, had to know if my guesses where right about her.

"Is the game still on hold?" She asked.

I nodded. "Yeah,"

"No," She said softly. "It doesn't bother me, I don't go out of my way to let people know that I'm gay, but I don't hide it from myself. I know who I am."

Yes! My inner self did a fist pump. I knew I was right.

"My family knows about me," I told her. "The core team included. I haven't felt comfortable telling the other guys yet."

"You're afraid they won't accept you?" She asked.

I shook my head. "No, they'd never say anything to me, but that's because they're afraid of Ranger. I don't want them to be uncomfortable with me. I'm already having some trouble earning they're respect because I'm 'The Bosses kid'. They don't all see me as a genuine team member yet and I don't want anything else to get in the way."

"I understand that better then you could probably guess." She said. "My family doesn't know. Not Col. Lowry, not any of the guys I've trained with. The only person I've willingly told is Adam. He's Col. Lowry's youngest boy and my personal favorite step-brother."

We fell silent then, both of us returning to our own thoughts as we watched the building. Every half hour one of us would walk around the building to check out the back, gun drawn, and panic button ready.

Shilo slid back into her seat after her latest run and I had my first question ready. I waited until she was settled, but I didn't want to give her time to fall back into her zone.

"Question one," I started. "What did you want to do, if it wasn't joining the Army?"

She thought for a moment, and I gave her the time to organize her thoughts.

"Music," She said with another small smile. "Back in Ireland, my family was very centered around music. Both of my parents played, all of my aunts and uncles played or could sing. Whenever we had family gatherings, everyone would bring their instruments along. I can't remember a time when there wasn't some form of music playing around the house."

"Did you play or sing?" I asked.

"Both," She said. "I was learning a handful of different instruments at the time, although my favorite was always the violin. I could sing pretty well for a kid my age. I'm an Alto and I also loved to dance."

"You _did_ play, or you _do_ play?" I asked for clarification. What were the chances I'd get to hear her sing?

"I used to," She said almost sadly. "I haven't played for several years."

"Why would you stop if it was something you loved so much?"

She was quiet again for a moment, and I hoped I wasn't pushing the topic to far. "As a young girl, music was an acceptable hobby." She said. "When I got older, Col. Lowry didn't agree that it was a reasonable choice for a career. Besides, it was part of my past. I've moved on."

She glanced over at me. "Question one," She said. "Before, you never answered me. Why did you know you wanted to come to Trenton?"

"I wanted to be closer to Ranger." I told her. "I didn't know my father well as a child, in fact I remember being a bit afraid of him. When I was ten, a man who was stalking my father kidnapped me from my childhood home in Miami. He was trying to takeover Ranger's life, dressing in black, and acting like a bounty hunter. He eventually made his way here to Trenton and kidnapped Stephanie too. At the time Dad and Steph weren't really an item yet, she was still dating Joe, but everyone with eye's could see they were already head over heels for each other."

"Joe?" She asked, "As in that Detective Morelli we meet this morning?"

I nodded. "The one and only. He and Stephanie dated on and off for like three years before she finally kicked him to the curb for good. They're still friends, but they wanted different things in life. Personally, I think he's kind of a prick, and he still doesn't like Ranger much. I think he's kind of jealous that Ranger got the girl."

"So you and Ranger connected after the kidnapping?" She asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, until then Ranger did everything he could to hide the fact that I was his daughter because he didn't want anyone to hurt me. The kidnapping was all over the news, until people realized that there was a copycat out there, most people just thought Ranger was the one who'd taken me. Afterwards, since he couldn't hide me anymore, he did the opposite by coming to see me more publicly and putting word on the street that he'd kill anyone who hurt me.

As I got older I started to understand why Ranger had done the things he did and I was old enough to appreciate everything he'd done to keep me and my mom safe. The kidnapping was also the first time I got to meet Stephanie. She kept me safe, even though she'd never even meet me before. It was a few months after the kidnapping that the two of them finally hooked up. I like to take credit for bringing them together, but really I think it was just the fact the Ranger realized how much Steph was willing to do for him. She accepted not only him, but all of the guys at RangeMan without judging them. He realized that keeping his distance from people didn't always make them safer. It didn't work on me, and it wasn't working with Stephanie.

I knew I wanted to come to Trenton after that. I didn't want to leave my mom, but really the two of us have never been super close. I love her, but we just don't have that much in common anymore. I want to make up for lost time with my dad, and since I have an interest in bond enforcement asking to join RangeMan seemed like the best way to kill two birds with one stone. I like working here, and I love all of the guys."

At eight o'clock, another black SUV pulled up behind us and we were both regretting not having brought something to eat for diner with us. I drove back to RangeMan and we found food in the break room. Shilo sighed into her soup, "Do you think Ella would adopt me?" She asked longingly.

Someone laughed behind us and I turned to see Stephanie, walking over to us. She sat down in the seat next to Shilo and smiled. "I've been asking her that same question for years." Steph held out her hand and offered us each a set of painkillers. "Bobby saw you come in." She explained. "He noticed you were limping a bit Julie."

We each took the pills and swallowed them down fast.

"Thanks." Shilo said turning back to the fresh baked rolls that went with the soup.

"I'll pass the thanks onto Bobby." Steph said. "How are you both feeling?"

I noticed her eyes land on the bruise on my chin. I smiled at her. "I'm fine Steph," I promised her. "Punk got in a lucky hit."

"I should have hit him for that." Shilo said so softly I almost missed it.

Stephanie laughed. "Ranger told me about your interrogation. You got more out of that man then the rest of us did."

"Not by much." Shilo said. "We still don't know where Michael is."

"Maybe not," She agreed. "But, we did learn a bit about what the family is here for and every bit helps. Thank you for hitting him. I never would have let him get away with calling Carlos and Tank those awful names."

Shilo nodded. "Any time."

"You should also know," Stephanie started, turning to look at Shilo. "Ranger's already gotten a couple of calls from TPD. They want your help on the case too. I know they've already put out some feelers to see if they can find their own translator. Don't be surprised if they throw some money at you or ask you to come down for a meeting."

Shilo shook her head. "Not interested, I don't like cops much."

Stephanie chuckled. "Don't really blame you for that one."

"So basically, they're trying to poach our translator." I said. "We should just tell them to get lost."

Steph shook her head. "Can't, were supposed to be working together on this case. Shilo by no means has to work with them, if she doesn't want to, but it's not RangeMan's choice to make for her. She'll have to shut them down when they talk to her."

**Pov-Shilo**

After we finished eating Julie came over to my cubical with me and showed me how to get into the different search programs that RangeMan used. I recognized most of them and started pulling up old lists of Celtic family crests.

Julie had pulled a second chair in next to me and was sitting with her legs crossed, spinning the silver band around in her hands. "So how are you going to find this thing?" She asked, when the first page of crests started showing up on my screen, there had to be over a hundred just on this page.

"One by one."

"This could take you all week." She said.

I nodded. "Could, I'm going to start sorting them alphabetically. I'll also limit the search to family names that are at least as old as O'Donnell's." I explained.

She nodded. "Could this _be_ the O'Donnell family crest?" She asked. "Maybe He's part of the actual family."

I shook my head. "No, the O'Donnell family crest is a shield with a red cross on it, and there's a helm from a suite of armor on the top of the shield." I nodded towards the crest in her hand. "That shield has clovers on it," I pointed to the small creature guarding the top of the shield. "and this crest is topped with a fox. Too bad we can't tell if there is any color on it."

"Would color help?" She asked.

I shrugged. "Every detail helps."

"You know an awful lot about this." She said, and I prayed I hadn't said to much. I could tell she was watching my profile, but I kept my eye's dutifully on the screen, my face as blank as I could make it.

"Question two," She started and I felt my heart fall into my stomach. "Why do you know so much about the O'Donnell family? Have you worked on cases about them before?"

"That's two questions." I pointed out. "But, no I've never worked a case on the O'Donnell's before. Lots of people know about the O'Donnell family." I added easily. "They've been causing problems for generations."

"Not in the U.S" She said. "And you haven't lived in Ireland since you were a kid."

"So I keep up to date on local news." I defended. "It's not a crime to miss my homeland."

"There's something else." She pressed. "What aren't you telling me?"

I shook my head, not ready to tell anyone about my connection with the O'Donnell's. It was personal and none of their business. What I knew about them wasn't important to this case. I knew the anger I was feeling was probably clear on my face, but I kept my eye's away from her, scrolling through the photo's on my computer.

"Chicken," I finally said when it became clear she wasn't going to drop this easily. "I'll take the shot."

She nodded. "Fine,"

After the question, we sat in silence for another hour. She helped me look through crests trying to find an identical match to the one we had. We made it all the way to the letter "C" before Julie broke the silence.

"There's yours." She said, pointing to a crest on the screen.

I nodded after a moment, when she looked to me for conformation. The crest on the screen was indeed mine, a match to the one I wore around my neck. The shield was silver, trimmed in gold; a large hawk with his wings closed stood watch on the top. On the shield was a pair of swords crossed over a decorative blue cross.

Under the photo was my family name "Connalay" and a brief explanation of what the name translated too and where it had first been found in written records hundreds of years ago.

"Why is there a red slash through the name?" Julie asked.

"Because there are none of us left." I said sadly. I'd noticed the slash on a couple of other names too, but it hurt to see it on my own. "The slash means that the bloodline has either been lost or has become so thin it can no longer be traced."

"But you're sitting right here." She said. "You should E-mail them and tell them they're wrong."

I shook my head. "Legally my name was changed when I was adopted. Besides, I'm a woman, I would have lost the name when I married. Site's like this follow names through a male line, where the name is more likely not to change."

"Have you ever considered changing your name back?" She asked.

I nodded, "Someday." As soon as I was sure, I wouldn't be hunted down and killed for clamming it. Then I realized something I should have noticed right away. "How did you know this was my birth name?" I'd never told her.

"It was in your file." She said. "Ranger passed around a summary before you got here, so some of the main guys around here could get a feel for you. I was in on the meeting."

I did my best to keep my face blank, but on the inside my eyes narrowed. "That file was supposed to be sealed."

She stood up. "One sec," When she returned she held out a two-page profile on me. There was a picture as well as some basic info like my birthday and school history. It has Col. Lowry listed as my father and a list of his boy's. After the boy's was mention of my adoption from Ireland and there after my name was my birth name.

"What's wrong?" She asked. "It doesn't go into much detail."

That was mostly true; it didn't list some of my more colorful charges or mention the case I'd pressed during my time in the military. It didn't mention my family or how they were lost, only that I had no living blood relatives. None of that information could get me killed.

"It's nothing." I told her, passing the profile back. I didn't want to press the issue. I was afraid of mentioning the fact that my last name was a secret. I didn't need anyone here getting hurt because I was discovered amongst them or because they went digging into my history. "How many of these profiles were there?" I asked.

She shrugged. "Four or five, Ranger collected them back after the meeting, he would have gotten rid of them. Your file will be locked in his office."

"Why do you still have one?" I asked.

She blushed. "I was curious." She said. "And I like that picture of you."

Julie and I retreated up to our separate rooms after finishing the last of the "C" names. It had been a long day and we would both need to be back on an early schedule tomorrow. I brushed out my hair and striped down to just my panties before crawling into bed, as a last minute decision I moved my hunting knife under the bed.

o0o0o0o0o

The next morning I woke early and pulled on some running shorts. I was interested in exploring the RangeMan gym Julie had showed me. I tied my hair back, braided it and twisted the braid into a bun so it would be out of my way. Adding a black, RangeMan tank top that I found in my closet I headed downstairs.

I didn't run into anyone in the elevator, but there were already a handful of big, bulky, RangeMen working out when I swiped myself into the gym. A few looked up when I walked in and a couple of the guys who'd introduced themselves to me said good morning. I waved my own greeting, but found my eye's trained on the far side of the room, where a row of treadmills were set up.

Julie was on the farthest one, near the wall, her head down and her eyes closed. She had ear buds in, listening to some music I couldn't hear, completely set in her own zone. Like everyone else she was set up in black yoga pants and a tight black shirt that showed off her toned body. Her hair was tied up in a messy bun, but lose strands had fallen down and were sticking to the side of her neck.

I felt someone move up behind me and then a large hand came down on my shoulder.

"Morning Red."

I recognized Lester's voice and tensed at the name. I knew he hadn't meant anything by it, but I could still feel myself slipping into full blown rhino mode… I hated being called Red.

"Morning Lester." I said. Before he had time to react, I grabbed his hand on my shoulder and stepped backwards using my shoulders to knock him off balances and flip him. The move only worked because he hadn't been expecting it. Lester easily had me by a hundred pounds and he was at least six inches taller than I was.

He landed flat on his back in front of me, spread eagle on the mats. The gym went silent; the only noise made was a groan by Lester as he looked up at me.

"Don't ever call me Red again." I said, my voice low and far more menacing then I'd meant it to be. "Please." I added, and then I offered him a hand up.

"Holy shit Lester," Someone from the other side of the room called out with a chuckle. "She just kicked your ass."

I watched Lester's eyes narrow at the comment and saw the corner of his mouth turn up in a grin. I made to pull my hand away, but it was too late. He's hand locked around my wrist and he yanked me forward off my feet.

I switched tactics just as quickly, using his own move against him, tucking into my fall and tumbling over him. The roll pulled my wrist free and I landed in a crouch almost a yard from him. He pushed himself to his knees and blew some of his hair out of his face. "Nice move."

I grinned. "It's not one of my best." I teased back. The atmosphere in the gym had changed to the more lighthearted feel of a sparring match and some of the other guys had come to stand around the mat's where Lester and I where.

Lester let lose a full-blown grin and tugged his t-shirt off tossing it off the mats. "This is going to be fun."

I copied his move, striping my tank-top off, which left me in just my dark purple sports bra. A couple of the guys wolf whistled and one made the comment that Ranger should hire more women. I let my eyes roam across our audience and noticed most of them were standing on Lester's side of the ring. Clearly rooting for the home team.

Then a voice called out behind me. "Kick his ass Shilo."

I glanced over my shoulder and found Julie rooting for me. Her eyes raked over my body and I felt my face flame. She eyed my back, no doubt seeing the trail of black stars that ran the length of my spine. I wondered if she'd make the connection to the smaller set on my wrist. What can I say, I'd had a big family, everyone deserved to be represented.

"Oh come on Niña. Does family mean nothing to you?"

I turned back to Lester as he spoke up and found him pouting at Julie as she turned traitor on her uncle. I heard Julie giggle behind me, but kept my eyes trained on my opponent as Lester took a step forward.  
>"Sorry Uncle Lester." She said. "Girl power, we gotta stick together."<p>

Lester's eyes flickered between the two of us for a second and then he grinned again, and I remembered Julie telling me that the core team knew about her sexual preference. Lester's eyes locked on me, sizing me up quick, then as he stalked another step forward. "Don't think I'll go easy on you just because you're a girl." He said.

I nodded and gave him my best 'come and get it look' before responding. "Don't think I'll hold back because you're old."

This got some smart comments from the guys watching and I heard a few of them placing bets on who the winner would be. Lester started moving to the left, so I mirrored him as we circled each other.

"Age is just wisdom and experience." He said. "I've worked with Col. Lowry before; I bet I know all of your movies."

He lunged then, moving surprising fast for a man of his size. He was stronger, but I was faster. I managed to dodge his first string of hits, but wasn't able to push him back. He moved to hit my shoulder and I ducked under his arm, tagging him in the gut with my elbow. He kicked out a foot and tripped me as I made my escape.

When he tried to pin me down, I shoved my knee into his ribs and rolled him over, sitting on his chest and pinning one of his arms to his side. "How'd you like that move?" I asked with a smirk.

"I've had better." He said, twisting to the right and throwing me to the left.

We exchanged sets back and forth; His size making it easy for him to direct the battle, and me using my speed and short stature to sneak in hits. He made a wide swing with his right and caught me in the shoulder. Without giving me the chance to recover, he hooked me around the waist and we went down again.

We rolled back and forth, neither of us able to keep the other pinned for more than a moment. We were both breathing hard and slick with sweat. I landed a sharp hit below his ribs and he responded by knocking me back over when I tried to roll away from him. Since this was just a friendly sparing match, neither of us was trying to draw blood and I knew he was being careful not to hit my side, where the bruises from my first night in Trenton were still dark.

When we separated again, we both took the chance to try and catch our breath. Lester waved a hand at me. "Why can't I call you Red?" He asked.

"I don't like the name Red."

After my adoption, Col. Lowery had enrolled me at a public school near the military base. It was a small school and I'd been the only kid with red hair. Add to it the fact that I joined up half-way through the school year, was skinny with freckles, and talked different from the rest of the kids because of my accent and I was the perfect target for every want-a-be bully for miles. I'd learned real fast, how to fight dirty and protect myself. One kid in particular had always called me Red. In the seventh grade, I broke his nose and started my list of juvenile crimes.

Lester shrugged. "Everyone here get's a nick-name eventually. I'll just have to keep trying them out."

"You can call me whatever you want, just not red."

"We should call her Galaxy." Someone behind me said. "Look at all those stars."

Lester and I spared for another ten minutes before he swiped my feet out from under me and pounced. Once my arms were pinned to my side, I was pretty much done for. Lester was too heavy for me to throw at this angle and to tall for me to try to get my legs around his neck to yank him off.

He leaned over me and grinned. "Say uncle." He taunted.

"No," I said stubbornly, attempting to wiggle free.

He leaned down a little farther and lowered his voice so he wouldn't be overheard. "Julie likes you, I can tell; don't break my niece's heart ok."

I flushed again, hoping that no one would notice under the flush from our sparing.

"Let her up Lester, you're going to crush her."

Lester looked over his shoulder at whoever had spoken up. "Tell her to surrender first."

While he had his head turned, I put my fists together and shoved them into his gut. He gasped and leaned forward giving me the chance to bring both my legs up and flip him over my head. I scrambled while he was trying to catch his breath and leapt onto his back. I got one of his arms pinned under his own body the other pulled across his back.

I twisted sideways and stuck one of my knees on the back of his neck to help keep him still. I leaned over and put my lips near his ear. "Never."

I didn't care what question he put my answer too. It fit for them all. I'd never surrender a fight and I'd do my best to never hurt Julie, if she gave me the chance to hold her heart. It was in that moment that, even though I swore to never fall in love again, that I realized I was falling and falling hard.

**Pov- Julie**

She had to know something about the O'Donnell's. Who kept tabs on a mob family half-way across the world, unless there was something specific she was watching for? Maybe she'd done undercover work on them before and was using our investigation to help her gather more information on them.

She'd promised that any information she knew about the O'Donnell's wouldn't put our hunt in jeopardy or endanger the guys here. Any information on what kind of trouble the family was in would help our investigation, so she must not know something too big. Maybe it was personal? Maybe she knew a member of the O'Donnell family?

I shook my head and tried to focus on my music. I'd already been in the gym for an hour, unable to sleep because my brain wouldn't shut up. I knew Shilo was keeping something from me, something big that she didn't want to talk about. I also trusted her, so I felt bad about prying.

I'm such a jerk.

I'd know I was pushing her buttons last night when I'd asked about the O'Donnell's. She had clearly wanted me to stop asking, and I went ahead and threw a question at her under the pretence of the game I'd started just to get to know her better. I'd tried to take advantage of the fact, that she'd trusted me enough to be honest with me.

I was brought out of my thoughts by a low bang that shook the floor of the gym. I jerked my head up and found Shilo standing on the other side of the gym dressed for a workout with a scary dark look on her face. In front of her, laying flat on his back and out of breath was my Uncle Lester.

I yanked my headphones from my ears and powered down my treadmill, stepping off the machine. The room had gone quiet, as everyone took in the sight before them and I wondered what I'd missed, clearly Lester's mouth had gotten him in trouble again.

Then she spoke, her beautiful alto voice dripping with menace. "Don't ever call me Red again." She said darkly. Then her face softened, marginally, and she added the word, please. She held out a hand to help him up and then Zero spoke up from the other side of the room.

"Holy shit Lester." He said with a chuckle. "She just kicked your ass."

I smirked at the statement, it wasn't too often someone was able to surprise my Uncle Lester and I couldn't remember the last time someone had been able to flip him off the mats. Lester's eyes narrowed at the comment as he moved to except Shilo's hand up and she saw it too.

She pulled off a wicked tumble and the energy in the gym changed from tension to excitement as the guys got ready to see the new girl in action. I'd heard a few of them talking about her when I'd first come in and it seemed like most of them were interested in seeing her foot work for themselves. Everyone knew she had training, they probably wanted to see just how good she really was.

Lester had a big grin on his face and he shook out his shoulders and got ready for a tussle with Shilo. They both had their eyes locked on the other, waiting for the fight to start. Most of the guys in the gym had moved to stand on Lester's side of the mat's, all of them waiting to see him put the new girl in her place. I'd seen them do this same initiation with some of the other new guys and had gotten that same thing just a couple of months ago for myself. Hal had handed me my ass.

I moved to stand on Shilo's side; Tank caught my eye from across the room and grinned at me. He should know by now that I'd never miss the chance to see someone wipe the floor with Lester. Tank had been the only one who bet on me in my first real tussle. I still wasn't sure how much money he'd lost on me.

Lester flexed, and in a very macho move pulled his shirt over his head with one hand. For a guy who'd just turned forty he still looked pretty good, but I was putting my money on Shilo. She was younger, faster, and I was betting she had a few moves up her sleeve.

Shilo had her back to me. Her long leg's bare, and her perfect ass covered with a tiny pair of black shorts that left nothing to my imagination. Her hair was twisted and braided up on the top of her head, and under the harsh gym lights, it only looked a shade lighter then blood.

I felt my eye's go wide as she cross her arms in front of her chest and pulled her tank-top off. The first thing that caught my attention was that her royal purple, sports bra was definitely not RangeMan issue. From all of the wolf whistles, I wasn't the only one who liked it. The second thing I noticed was the intricate path of stars that started at the base of her neck and traveled all the way down her spine, disappearing under the band of her shorts.

The stars were all black, some larger, some smaller. Some filled in while others were only thick outlines. Some of them had five points, others had eight. The largest one was right in the middle of her back and half covered by her bra, but even from this distance I could see the intricate pattern of woven knots inside of it.

I felt the corner of my mouth tilt up in a smile. Well, well, well, what do you know? We had matching tattoo's. I watched Shilo's head move slightly as she took in the room, no doubt seeing all of the guy's watching. I was standing behind her and wanted to make sure she knew I had her back.

"Kick his ass Shilo." I called out.

Shilo turned to look at me and I got my first good look at her tight stomach and slim hips. She was drop dead gorgeous and I felt my body flame, and a rush I hadn't felt in awhile ran straight between my thighs. She smiled softly at me and as she turned back to face off with Lester. I caught sight of the strip of black ink at her wrist. It was then I remembered her story about the stars on her wrist, how she'd gotten them to represent her family. Was it possible the ones on her back meant the same thing? There were so many of them.

Lester's voice cut though my thoughts as he said "Oh come on Niña. Does family mean nothing to you?" I giggled remembering how I'd rooted for Tank in his last fight and shrugged my shoulders throwing 'girl power' out as an excuse for why I was hoping Shilo would win.

Lester eyed me knowingly and then turned his glance to look over Shilo and I knew I'd been caught. What could I say? She was beautiful, powerful, and full of secrets. I was crushing hard and I wasn't going to apologize. I just hoped my dad wouldn't catch on as quickly as Lester had.

Lester and Shilo circled each other, feeling out the completion, and I grinned like a mad man when she called him old. They finally came together, exchanging some simple combinations. As they warmed up, their moves got more complicated. Lester's size was an advantage, since Shilo couldn't lead him around the mat like he was doing to her, but she managed to keep ahead of him, ducking around wide swings and side steeping a couple of kicks.

I wasn't paying much attention to the actual fight; I kept getting distracted by Shilo's long legs, or the way her abs tensed and released as she went toe to toe with Lester. Under the flush of her workout, I noticed a small sprinkling of light freckles along her cheeks and shoulders. There was also a beauty mark near her left knee.

After another set of moves they pulled apart, sweating and breathing heavy. I found myself watching the way her full chest rose and fell with her breathing until Lester spoke up, asking why the name Red had set her off. She refused to give details, simply saying that she didn't like it and I made a note to bring it up in a later round of our game. What can I say? I'm nosy.

One of the guys mentioned the name "galaxy' when the topic of giving Shilo a nick-name came up. I wondered if Shilo knew that it usually took months for someone to earn a nick-name around here. Obviously, she'd made some strong first impressions if the guys were already considering giving her one.

Shilo and Lester met again on the mat's and this time he managed to knock her down and straddle her chest, pinning her arms. I knew from similar experience that Lester was heavy in that position. Shilo was probably stronger then I was, but from this angle it didn't look like this would end well for her.

Lester taunted her with making a public surrender and she refused. He leaned down and whispered something to her, I tried to read her face but there were mixed emotions there. Probably Lester had said something smart again, trying to get under her skin. Then Lester made the big mistake. He underestimated his opponent and looked away.

Shilo wiggled her hands free and shoved both fists right into Lester's gut. I winced with the others in sympathy pain and grinned when Shilo managed to bring both her legs up between Lester's and flip him over her head again. She didn't give him the chance to recover before pouncing and with her knee on the back of his neck, Lester lost.

Lester tapped the mat twice, our single for forfeit and the gym erupted into noise. Money changed hands and some of the guys complimented Shilo's technique. Most of them just teased Lester for losing his concentration.

I picked her shirt up off the floor and made my way over to her. She smiled when I stopped at her side and grabbed the shirt from me. "Thanks."

"No problem."

"I meant for rooting for me." She said. "I'm guessing that was some sort of initiation and I was supposed to lose."

"I've got your back." I promised her. "and yes, I can't remember the last time a new person won their initiation fight."

"I got lucky." She said with a shrug.

"Luck can save your life."

She pulled the shirt over her head and glanced at the clock up on the wall. "I'm going to go take a fast shower." She told me. "Want to keep looking over crests with me afterwards?"

I nodded. "Sure, I'll meet you on five."

I watched her leave and then gathered my things from where I'd left them against the wall. On my way out I saw Bobby talking with Tank as he flipped though an impressive wad of money.

"You beat against Lester?" I asked.

He smiled at me. "Yes, I think Shilo's a safe bet."

"What do you mean?"

Bobby exchanged looks with Tank and shrugged. "She just feels right." He said. "It's like she was meant to come here."

* * *

><p>~Darkrose<p>

Question one- Do you have a tattoo?


	4. Chapter 4

Yes, the question at the bottom of the chapter was for you, the readers. Thought it would be fun to play 20 questions, I'll answer them all too. I have two tattoos. One is a star on my back, the other is a musical note on my wrist. Dotted 16th note to be specific.

Big hug to my reviewers. Read and enjoy, drop me a comment.

* * *

><p>"Te Amo"<p>

Chapter 4

**Pov- Shilo**

The day was inching by…

During the morning meeting Ranger had told us that RangeMan had turned over the guard we'd caught at Wild Horse to the TPD. So far he'd said nothing to them, ha. Other than that, we were still sitting in the same spot. We'd had a few sightings of the older O'Donnell's but, with no warrant to catch them, there was nothing we could do to them but secretly follow them around and pray they would lead us to Michael.

Julie and I had been sitting in my cubical for almost four hours going over crests and they were all starting to run together. I pushed my chair back and closed my eyes, rubbing at my temples. "I need to take a break." I said.

I heard Julie lean back in her chair and sigh. "Me too," She agreed. "After the thirtieth page, these things all start to look alike."

I nodded.

"Can I see yours?" Julie asked.

I glanced at her. "You saw it yesterday, remember?"

She shook her head. "No, I mean your necklace, you always wear it." She said nodding at my chest. "I saw the chain in the gym this morning, but you had it tucked into your bra. Can I see it?"

I nodded, pulling the thin silver chain out from under my shirt. The chain was long, so I pulled it over my head easily and passed it to her, the small pedant glinted in the light.

She laid the medallion in the palm of her hand and ran her thumb over it. The pendant had belonged to my grandfather. My mother had only given it to me a few nights before the fire, I was so excited about it that I'd still been wearing it that night when I went to bed. That was the only reason it had survived. I had only taken it off a handful of times since.

She didn't say anything, but passed it back, watching while I slid it over my head and tucked it away. She glanced at the computer screen again and groaned.

"I vote we just go down to TPD and kick the shit out of that guy until he tells us his name."

"There might be a law against that." I said grinning.

She chuckled. "Alright, let's get some lunch and we can try again afterwards. We don't have surveillance tonight so we have lots of time today."

"Yippy." Eye roll.

She stood up and clapped a hand on my shoulder. "Come on."

I stood up and followed her, stopping when she turned towards the elevator, instead of towards the staff room. "You going to eat in your room?" I asked.

She shook her head. "Nope, we're going out. I don't know about you, but I need to stretch my legs out. Come on." She waved over her shoulder that I should follow. So I did.

I followed Julie down the stairs, into the garage, and slid into the passenger side of one of the large RangeMen SUV's. Julie pulled out of the lot and turned easily onto the street.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

She smirked at me. "Is that your next question?" She asked.

Ohhh, that was why we left the office, She wanted to play some more. I stayed quiet while she drove; trying to decide which of my many questions, I wanted to ask next. Fifteen minutes later we pulled into a small lot in front of a tiny 'ma and pa' place called, Jimmy's Diner.

I followed her inside and she greeted the owner like an old friend. We were quickly given a booth in the back corner and I hesitated when Julie took the back seat. I would have preferred to sit with my back to the wall so I could see the entrance.

I shook off the feeling and slid into the booth across from her. She leaned back in her seat and ignored her menu. Her leg touched mine and she didn't pull it away, keeping the small connection between us under the table.

When the waitress arrive, Julie ordered two lemonades for us, promising me that this was the best lemonade in the city. I grinned. "Lemonade is my favorite."

She smiled. "Mine too."

I looked over the menu waiting for something to catch my interest. After a moment, I shut it and pushed it away, giving up. "I'm allergic to mushrooms." I told her. "Order me something yummy."

She grinned and when the server came back she ordered me a chicken salad sandwich, trading out the fries for seasoned rice. She got herself a pulled pork wrap, with steamed veggies. They both sounded good.

"Alright," She started "Question three. Did you really get in trouble for setting a shed on fire when you were a teenager?"

I smirked. "Yeah, one of my many flamboyant indiscretions as a child. One of our neighbors called the cops. At the time we were living at a large property near a military base and they saw all of the smoke. In my defense, I cleared the area beforehand and wetted the land around the shed to contain the fire. When the police showed up with the fire trucks I was found perched on a log with a long metal skewer roasting marshmallows."

She laughed. "Oh my god, I thought Ranger was kidding about that part."

I shook my head. "Nope, all true. I love s'mores. However, it is a good thing the fire truck showed up. The shed was old and we didn't use it anymore. It had some old furniture in it, a couple of tree's worth of firewood, we'd cut down the year before as well as an old car. I was too young to think about the fact that car's and fire might not work out so well. In the end the car blew and the shed came down, but there was no extended damage."

The waitress dropped off our food and we ate in silence for a few moments each savoring the wonderful meal. This stuff had nothing on Ella's food, but it was great. "Was that your worse juvenile charge?" She asked.

I shook my head. "Not really. I have a couple of small arson charges; the shed was the worst of those. However, I got in more trouble for the other's since they were on other people's properties. I have some fighting charges, a little vandalism, and a couple of petty theft charges. I really wasn't a bad kid, but I acted out a lot."

"Family rebel?" She guessed.

I shook my head. "Loss of identity. Trying to deal with a change of family and country at a young age was very stressful. I didn't really know who I was at the time or how to find myself again."

"Did you ever talk to someone about it?" She asked.

I grinned. "You mean like a shrink, yeah. Col. Lowry had me talk to some youth councilors and after a bad fighting charge. When I was sixteen I had to see a psychologist in order to avoid juvie. I'm not crazy and I never had to look at ink blots."

"I didn't think you were crazy." She said. "Everyone act's out as a kid."

"I bet you didn't send a kid to the hospital when you were in the seventh grade." I challenged the memory still fresh in my mind from the fight this morning. Little punk had deserved it.

She raised an eyebrow. "What did you do?"

"Broke the little brats nose for picking on me." I sipped at my lemonade. "That's why I don't like to be called Red."

She nodded. "I get that. I got picked on a lot in grade school too. We lived in a really nice, white, community. Not a lot of Latino's. I wasn't always picked on because of my race, but the difference in appearance did make me an easy target."

We worked our way though our food some more and, when it seemed she wasn't going to ask more about my juvenile record, I asked my next question. "Question two, along the same line as yours. I already know that you've broken the whole drinking underage thing. You don't have a record, I looked at your file. What's the worst trouble you've been in? Any wild collage parties with drugs? That one night on the beach when you woke up confused and naked?"

She grinned. "No drugs, I've never even tried cigarettes, never will. I drink, but as I've said before, only in controlled moderation, so I've never woken up without knowledge of the night before. I did get caught stealing candy, from the store, when I was like seven though."

"Ooooo," I teased. "Aren't you a bad girl?"

She grinned. "Then there was the night I lost my virginity at a party I snuck out of the house to attend when I was only seventeen."

My turn to raise an eyebrow, "The plot thickens. Man or woman?"

"Man," She said lowering her voice. "I considered myself bi from about 15 to 18 it wasn't until then that I figured out my preference was really just for women. He was twenty at the time."

I choked on my drink. She'd only been a minor. "That's illegal."

"And I've never told a soul about it until today," She said sternly. "So you'll keep your mouth shut unless you want to incur my wrath."

"At least tell me it wasn't rape before I agree to not hunt him down and kill him."

She nodded. "It wasn't rape. He was my best friend's older brother. I'd known him for years. I was young and naive about things like love and sex though, so I didn't really know what I was getting myself into. He led me on a bit, but he didn't hurt me. I never told anyone because I knew my mom and Ranger wouldn't agree. It was earlier then I was probably ready for, but it was consented."

I nodded. "My lips are sealed." That didn't mean I wouldn't break his jaw if I ever meet him. I was mad he'd taken advantage of Julie, and jealous at the same time.

"Do your parents still think you're a virgin?" I asked.

She shook her head. "No, my mom knows I've had sex, but she thinks I lost my virginity after my high school graduation with another one of my friends. Ranger knows I'm not a virgin, but we've never had 'the talk' I think he almost prefers not to know when it comes to my sex life. As long as he doesn't think I'm being hurt in any way he has no right to say anything. He and Steph still go at it like newlyweds."

I scrunched my nose at the visual. "Not an image I needed of my new boss."

"Sorry I-" She paused, her eyes locked on something over my shoulder. "No freaking way." She said slowly, disbelief clear in her eyes.

I moved to look over my shoulder and she kicked me under the table. "Don't look."

"What is it?" I asked, lowering my voice instinctively.

Julie had her phone out and hit a speed dial. "Ranger, Shilo and I have eyes on Michael." She said. I didn't know what she was talking about, I had eye's on no one and my nerves were screaming to turn around and drop into a fighting stance. I bit my lip and kept still.

"Yes," She said quickly. "No."

She looked at me and mouthed "you packing?"

I nodded. I had my Smith and Weston nestled against my lower back and four knives hidden under my clothes. We did not however have Kevlar or extra ammo if this turned into another shoot out.

"Yes, the Diner." Julie said again into her phone. "Gotcha, He's moving now. We'll keep eyes on him from a distance."

She hung up and tossed a couple of twenties on the table. "Follow me."

We stopped in the entryway to the dinner and she peeking around the corner. "He's walking away, just one other man with him."

I took a turn to peek. Michael O'Donnell was walking away from us dressed casual, in jeans and a brown leather jacket. It was warm out, only one reason to wear a jacket and it was the same reason both Julie and I had coats on.

We casually walked to our car, keeping our eye's on the pair as they walked down the sidewalk. Julie pulled another gun from under the front seat and tucked it in her boot. She passed me some cuffs and an ammo case which I stuck in my pockets. She tucked a stun gun into her back pocket and pulled out a Kevlar vest.

"Put it on, fast." She said, taking over watch for me.

I hesitated. "Where's yours?"

"I'll get it next, hurry up."

I slipped the Kevlar on then pulled my RangeMan shirt back over my head and my jacket. I took over watching while Julie striped off her jacket and shirt. Someone behind us whistled and I gave them the bird, when I looked back Michael was gone…Shit.

"He turned." I said

Julie quickly pulled on her shirt and jacket and we took off at a quick walk down the sidewalk. "Where did he go?" She asked.

I shook my head. "Didn't see, I'm sorry, I looked away."

We were moving slowly, watching for O'Donnell to come out of a shop or step out of an ally and jump us. We got to the last place I'd seen O'Donnell and looked around, there was an antique shop and a women's clothing store with an ally down the middle.

"Three guesses, where he turned." Julie said sarcastically.

I nodded, stepping forward to take point and pulled out my gun. Julie stayed a step behind, gun in hand, watching my back and the street. We crept down the alley and stopped at the corner. I didn't hear anything on the other side, just car's on the street and the general hum of the city. I peeked my head around the corner and a white van hit the gas.

The van took the corner sharp, hitting its breaks and a large man jumped out of the back, gun drawn. Julie got off a shot at him, before another one leapt out of the driver's seat and charged her, but the shot missed, ringing off the side of the van.

The first man had come at me. I knocked him in the jaw with the butt of my gun, but his return hit had disarmed me. My gun slid away across the ground and I fell into a fighter's crouch. He aimed at me, but was slow to pull the trigger. I kicked out, catching him in the wrist. His shot went wild and his gun went flying.

He jumped at me and we fell to the ground in a tangle of flying fists and feet. I yanked the knife from my boot and slashed at his arm. Blood caught me in the chest and he pulled back with a yelp. He came back, his hands at my throat. He kneed me in the gut and shoved me backwards, pinning me against the wall and effectively knocking the breath from my lungs. I dropped my large knife, scrambling to pull one of my smaller throwing knives from my belt.

I got the small, black, blade free and stabbed towards his face. He yelped again and his hands left my throat. My neck was burning and I was seeing tinny black spots. A few yards away I heard Julie cry out. The man she'd been fighting, had pulled back and drawn another gun, he aimed at me and I didn't have the breath to move out of the way.

Julie dropped to her knees and three shots were fired. I was still trying to catch my breath, but I didn't feel any bullets rip into my flesh, so I figured I hadn't been hit. My vision swayed and when I rubbed at my throat, my hand came away slick with red blood. Maybe I'd spoken to soon. The van squealed as it took off, leaving an inch of rubber behind along with a sick acidic smell. I wobbled on my hands and knees, momentarily losing my sense of direction. I was lightheaded and suddenly lunch didn't seem to agree with me as my stomach pitched.

"Julie! Shilo!"

I glanced up at my name. There were two Black SUV's parked near the entrance of the alleyway and Ranger was running towards us, gun drawn. Behind him I counted Tank, Steph, Hector, Blaze, Hal and a few other people, but my attention wavered. I'd caught sight of Julie, a couple of yards from me. She was slumped on the ground with her back to the building next to us and she hadn't looked up when Ranger called our names. I saw the blood in her hair and threw up.

Hal hooked me under the armpits and pulled me away from the mess I'd made before he grabbed my shoulders and steadied me. "Shilo, can you hear me?"

I nodded and my vision darkened. "dizzy." I said.

"Hold on."

He pulled off his shirt and I heard him say 'neck wound.' My ears were ringing and I jumped when Hal pressed his shirt to my neck. It was starting to throb and sting and I could feel my own blood running down my front, soaking into my shirt.

In the distance, I heard sirens and saw pulsing blue and red lights. Hal made to pick me up, but the sudden move left me nauseous. I pulled away from him in time to throw up again, without getting it on anyone. My vision darkened and this time it took longer to clear up. Hal had helped me sit down again. "Julie?" I asked, my voice shaky.

He's grip on my neck tightened as a couple of paramedics came over and I was slowly shifted sideways onto a stretcher. "She's alive." He said and my vision blackened again. The rushing in my head grew louder. The last thing I remember hearing was the sound of the ocean pounding in my ears, and we were miles from it.

**Pov- Julie**

I winced and my dad looked up from the paper work he was doing? "Do you want me to get you more pain meds?" He asked again.

I shook my head. "I'm fine." I was a nervous wreck. Shilo had been carted away forty-five minutes ago and we hadn't heard anything on her condition yet. She'd blackout at the crime scene and they'd hooked her up to oxygen. The wound in her neck had been long and needed stitches. I was just mad I hadn't been able to shoot the bastard faster and keep her save.

When the man I'd been fighting turned his gun on Shilo, I'd acted out of instincts. I'd dropped to my knees and pulled the gun from my ankle holster. He'd gotten one shot of towards Shilo, then I'd hit him, and his last shot had caught me in the vest. I'd hit my head against the building, when the bullet knocked me back and passed out.

I now had three neat little stitches and a raging headache. My chest hurt where the bullet had hit me, over my right breast, and the welt was bruising. The police had already taken my account of the fight in the alley and were working with some of Dad's men to clean up the alley. The man I'd shot had died, my bullet had pierced his lung. I felt sick to my stomach. I'd never killed a man before.

"Niña?"

I glanced up and Ranger gave me a knowing look. Damn ESP. In the past I'd thought Stephanie might have been exaggerating about how Ranger always seemed to know what everyone was thinking. After living around him for nearly a year now, I was realizing it was true. You couldn't hide anything from Ranger. He really was like Batman.

"I'm fine." I repeated.

Ranger came over to the bed I was sitting in. We were waiting for the results of my scan to make sure I didn't have a concussion. Hal and Blaze had been waiting with us, but they'd both conveniently left the room. I bet Ranger sent them out when I wasn't looking.

He waited for me to look at him and when I did, I saw the pain in his face I was trying to keep buried away. "I'm sorry." He said sadly.

"For what?" I asked. This wasn't his fault.

"You killed that man today." He said slowly. "That is something you will have to carry for the rest of your life."

I nodded, coming from him it sounded less dramatic. I'd killed that man in self-defense to protect Shilo and myself. Inside, I wanted to throw up and take a shower two degrees short of boiling. Outside, I was glad to just be alive.

"I was protecting Shilo." I said, my voice sounded weak and tiered. "It was self-defense."

He sighed. "I never wanted you to have to carry that weight." He admitted.

"It's part of the job." I said. "I knew what I was getting myself into when I signed up. All of the time you make me spend in the gun range wasn't just for show. I knew that."

He nodded. "I never should have let you join RangeMan. I've almost lost you twice now in as many days. It tears me up to know I've put my little girl in danger."

"But, I'm doing so well." I countered, getting mad at him for not believing in me. "I'm learning fast, I'm not a little kid anymore. I've passed every test you and the guys have thrown at me. I can do this, I know I can, you can't pull me from the team."

"Why do you want to do this?" He asked. "There's so much darkness in this job, Niña." He kissed the top of my head. "And you are so full of life."

I smirked. "I guess I really am your daughter. Apple doesn't fall far from the tree in our case. I like working at RangeMan, Daddy, and I like helping people and knowing that I'm helping to take bad people off the streets." I said trying to make my voice sound braver. "I knew what the job entitled when I took it. I'm freaking out right now, I'll get better at controlling that, but I'll be fine. I did what I had to do."

He shook his head and looked me in the eye. "Never shut down your emotions Julie." He said. "The guys and I, we learned to do that for survival in the army, but it's not something you can unlearn once it's there. Emotions are hard; it takes a stronger person to deal with them. I see Steph do it every time she attracts some disaster and I admire her more and more each time." He admitted a soft smile on his lips. "She might think her tears make her weak, but in reality it takes more courage to face your fears then it does to bury them away. You have that same strength."

I was shocked. That had to be one of the longest speeches I'd ever heard Ranger make. Then I burst into tears. Ranger held onto me, letting me ride out the shock, whispering gentle things in Spanish into my ear. I sobbed for nearly ten minutes before I was able to pull myself back together. My eyes were red and puffy and I was so tired. However, the pressure in my head felt like it had gone down and I wasn't as nauseous.

Ranger passed me a tissue and kissed the top of my head again, careful to avoid my stitches. "I'm proud of you Julie." He said. "You reacted on instincts and saved both of your lives today. You trusted your training and it paid off. I don't like putting you in danger and I've purposely held off on giving you field work. I also know that you can do this, that's why I push you so hard, and I'm sorry that I haven't shown more confidence in you."

"I love you Papi."

"I love you too." He said.

I smiled, loving the complement and this moment of connection. Then I jumped when someone tapped on the door and the moment was ruined. Uncle Lester poked his head into the room. "Sorry," He said with a gentle smile in our direction. "Doc's here, wants to see you Boss. He's got word on Starburst."

"Starburst?" I asked.

He shrugged "I'm trying out nick-names for Shilo. You like that one?"

I wrinkled my nose. "Try again." It was awful. That had to be the worst one I'd heard yet.

Ranger nodded. "Go ahead and send him in, we can all hear this." He looked over at me. "You feeling alright?"

I nodded as the doctor came in along with Lester and Blaze. "Fine, I'm just tiered."

The doctor stopped at my bed and asked the same question. I told him I was fine and almost begged for news on Shilo.

"Your Miss Lowry will be just fine." He said, turning to Ranger. "The wound on her neck was not deep, neck wounds always bleed a lot. She has ten stitches and I've already spoken with your company medic Bobby. He can take them out once the wound will hold itself closed." He glanced at his chart. "She's out right now, we are giving her blood to make up for what she lost, but you can take her home with you in a few hours.

He nodded. "Thank you for taking care of my team."

"I should have shot him faster." I mumbled under my breath again. The room went quiet and it was clear I'd spoken louder then I meant too.

"Sorry," I said softly, mostly looking at the doctor who didn't know how the shooting had taken place. "Just wish I could have kept him from shooting her."

The doctor raised an eyebrow and looked down at his sheet again. "Miss Lowry was not treated for a gunshot wound." He said confused. "The laceration in her neck was caused by something much thinner and duller then a bullet and there was no trace burn around the mark as there would have been from a hot bullet."

"Like what?" Ranger asked, his voice and face dropping into businessman mode.

The Doctor looked back over at Ranger. "Without further tests we can't be sure, but I'd guess either an old serrated blade or a piece of wire, maybe a thin string of rope that her attacker tried to wrap around her neck. The skin was badly torn on one end of the wound."

"The chain." I said slowly.

"What?" Ranger asked looking over at me.

I looked to the doctor. "Did you remove any jewelry from Shilo when you examined her?"

He shook his head. "No, just a couple of knives and a cell phone."

"She was wearing a necklace." I told him. "A thin silver chain around her neck. O'Donnell's man must have torn it off when they were fighting and cut her."

The doctor nodded. "A chain could have easily caused the damage Miss Lowry sustained, if it was ripped off with enough force. She's just lucky it didn't cut into any major arteries."

"Can we see her?" I asked.

The doctor nodded. "She's two doors down on the right. However it would be best if you refrain from walking too much until we have the results of your scan." He looked at Ranger. "There is a wheelchair in the closet she can use. Call a nurse if you start to feel lightheaded." He added looking at me.

I nodded and promised I would and we remained quiet until the doctor left the room.

"Why was she wearing a necklace?" Ranger asked. "No jewelry in the field. There's a reason we have that rule."

"We weren't in the field," I reminded him. "We went to lunch."

"She should have taken it off."

I nodded to appease him, but something told me that Shilo would never take that necklace off without it being life or death. I looked over at Lester. "Les can you call Tank, see if he can find it at the scene. It's really important to her, I'd hate for her to lose it."

He nodded. "I'll call, but if it's there it will have been collected as evidence for the case."

"That's ok, as long as she gets it back when this is over."

Ranger put a hand on my shoulder to stop me from standing and shook his head. "You heard the doctor, wheelchair."

I frowned at him. "I can walk."

"Not until were sure your alright."

Blaze stepped up and held out his arms to me. "I can carry you down the hall Julie." He offered. "It will be faster anyway."

I glanced up at Ranger and he nodded. Blaze picked me up and I wrapped my arms around his neck, trying not to pout like a child. My legs were just fine.

Blaze set me down in a chair near Shilo's bed and I bit my lip to keep from crying again. She was asleep, hooked up to a blood transfusion and an IV and some crazy heart monitor next to the bed was beeping. Someone had cleaned all of the blood away and she looked a lot better than the mess they'd rolled in here.

On the right side of her neck was a long, angry looking wound pined together with tiny stitches. No doubt it would leave a scar behind.

"She doesn't look to bad." Blaze commented. "She'll be back to kicking Lester's butt in no time."

I knew he was trying to make me feel better, but I still wish I'd been able to help more. I'd promised to have her back.

There was another soft knock on the door and Stephanie and Razor walked in. Steph moved to Ranger's side and he wrapped an arm around her waist, Blaze moved so Razor could take the seat next to me.

"How is she?" He asked.

I nodded. "She'll live; she just lost a lot of blood from the neck wound."

We lounged in Shilo's room, no one wanted to leave. Throughout the next couple of hours more than a dozen different Merry Men stopped in to check on Shilo and myself. This was something I'd come to love about them. These big, scary men were a family. They cared about each other and watched each other's backs and it would seem that Bobby had been right. Like a thief in the night, Shilo had wormed her way into their hearts too.

Another doctor came in and cleared me to leave. I had a nice little bump, but there was no damage to my skull or cracks in my ribs. She wanted me to take it easy for a couple of days and ordered me to go to Bobby if I felt any pain or dizziness. I promised and everyone, who needed too, signed my release forms.

It was another half an hour before Shilo woke up. She opened her eyes and found my face. I smiled, scooting my chair closer to the head of her bed. "Hey, how are you feeling?"

She glanced down at her arm and saw the tubs there. "We're in the hospital." She said, turning her eye's to the heart monitor.

I nodded. "Yeah, you cut your neck and lost a lot of blood, but you're ok now."

She raised one hand carefully and touched the line of stitches on her neck. "Are you ok?" She asked, turning her eyes to me.

I nodded. "I'm fine. Are you in any pain?"

She shook her head. "I'm fine." She glanced over my head and spotted our audience. "Did we get him?" she asked.

Ranger moved to my side. "No, the van peeled away before we could block them in. It hasn't been found yet. Are you sure that you're ok?"

She nodded. "My neck hurts, but I'll be fine."

"I'll talk to the doctor about when you can leave." And he left the room.

Steph, Blaze and Razor all moved forward to say hi. She answered their questions, but it was clear she was still fuzzy from the medication they'd given her. I smiled every time her eye's moved back to my face.

"You'll have to give another statement to the TPD." Steph told her.

She frowned and I put my hand on hers to get her attention. "They can wait until tomorrow." I promised

Razor and Blaze took over then, chatting easily and keeping the mood light while Shilo worked her way out of the medicated fog. I helped her sit up and got her water to ease her dry throat. We were all chuckling from one of Razor's jokes when Ranger came in with the doctor.

They kept her under supervision for another hour and once again, Bobby got the details on her care. She had some pain pills and medication to help fight off infection and by the time her release papers had all been signed, she looked ready to drop dead.

Steph had brought a change of clothes for her and a nurse beat me to the punch by offering to help her change. I tried not to glare at her as she shut the bathroom door behind them. Shilo came out in black yoga pants and a loose black T-shirt.

She gave the doctor a dark look when he brought in the wheelchair and once again Blaze offered to carry her. Taking the lesser of two evils, like I had, Shilo wrapped her arms around his neck and let him carefully pick her up.

"Thanks." She said.

He smirked. "No problem, Ginger,"

"I'd offer, but the sling get's in the way." Razor said, moving to her side. "Do me a favor and stop trying to get yourself killed."

She chuckled and playfully hit Razor in the shoulder. "Tell Lester to take 'Ginger' off his list. He needs to get more creative."

"Awww," Blaze said. "Ginger was my idea."

She wrinkled her nose and shook her head. "Try again."

Ranger led our little group down to the lobby and we found a pod of people in black waiting for us. The Merry Men were out in full force. Amongst them were Lester, Bobby, Hector and Hal. Everyone said hello to Shilo and said they were glad to see both of us up and moving around.

Blaze helped Shilo climb into the back of one of the black SUV's waiting for us and I slid into the seat next to her. Ranger and Steph took the front seats and we lead the parade of black car's back to RangeMan. Once again Razor offered to carry Shilo. She protested the need, but gave in and let him carry her inside. Once we were in the lobby, Ranger called us both to wait.

"You're both off the clock for the rest of today," He said. "and I only want you to take half shifts tomorrow, during which you can go down to TPD and give your statement Shilo."

We both agreed without argument. I for one had a slow throbbing in the back of my head and it was getting worse again. Bobby talked to us both, about checking in with him regularly and suggested we both go up stairs, watch a movie, and turn in early. He passed up both a set of pain pills and said he'd have Ella send diner to our rooms.

Shilo and I both rode the elevator in silence and when we got to the fourth floor she hesitated. "Um, would you help me change my shirt?" She asked almost shyly. "It pulls on my stitches if I raise my arm too high and I'm about five minutes from passing out."

I nodded, "of course. You want to watch a movie?" I asked. "We could lounge in my room. I've got a pretty good TV."

She nodded, "Sure, let me grab my things."

I wondered into my room, leaving the door open and started to strip off my gun, cell phone, wallet, watch and left everything in a pile on the counter. I kicked off my shoes and socks and snagged a pair of soft gray yoga pants and a red wife better. I was sitting on the end of the bed, brushing my hair while Shilo came in.

She'd dumped her pockets as well and padded into my room barefoot, shutting the door behind her. The bun on the back of her head was starting to fall down and I was betting she didn't have the energy to work out the braid.

"Come here." I patted the edge of the mattress and she sat down next to me. I twisted her around and started pulling pins from her hair. "You're going to have to show me how you did this." I said, impressed with how secure the bun still was after today activities. "The guys are always saying I should cut my hair so it would be out of my way in a fight, but if I could make a bun like this I wouldn't have too."

She nodded gently. "It's not too hard." She said. "I'll show you some time."

Once the pins were out the braid came loose and hung to the middle of her back. I pulled the tie out and started to finger comb her hair free. Once I had most of the braid done, I used my brush to gently work the knots out of her hair.

Once her hair hung in soft waves I moved my hands down to gently work the knots out of her shoulders. She groaned as I dug my fingers into her tight shoulders. "God, that feels good." She said, hanging her head so I had better access.

I smirked. "It would be easier if you lay down."

"Help me change first, if I lay down right now I won't ever get back up." She said. "Pain pills always make me sleepy."

I lifted up the back of her shirt and carefully pulled it up over her shoulders. Her back was bare, and I realized with a blush she wasn't wearing a bra. She must have heard my intake of breath because she turned her head to peek back at me.

"See something you like?" She asked, teasing.

"Maybe."

I finished pushing her shirt up and helped her get it over her head. She tossed it away onto my couch. "You're not wearing a bra." I stated the obvious.

She chuckled. "It was to big of a pain to deal with at the hospital." She explained. "There just boobs,"

I actually couldn't see her boobs from where I was sitting since she still had her back to me. I did however have a close up view of her back and the trail of stars there. I brushed her hair to the side and she shivered when I ran my finger down her spine.

"These are really beautiful." I told her. "How many are there?"

"37, not counting my wrist."

I continued to let the pads of my fingers run over her back, following the path of stars and enjoying the contrast of her light skin against the dark ink. The star in the center was my favorite. It was the largest of them all with ten points, filled with tinny knots that laced together like puzzle pieces.

"Those are Celtic knots." She explained, as I traced my finger over them. "That star took almost two hours, by itself."

"You weren't kidding about having a big family."

She shook her head, confirming my thoughts that theses stars were also meant for members of her family. "No, my mom had four sisters and my dad was the youngest of seven children. All of my aunts and uncles married and most had children of their own."

She let me explore her tattoo for a while longer and when she shivered, I helped her pull on a tube bra and made her lay on her stomach on the bed. I straddled her hips, and waited to see if she would say anything about the intimate position. She didn't, so I let my hands fall back to her shoulders, carful of her neck, and let my fingers work her muscles loose.

Slowly the knots left her shoulders. Every time I hit a sensitive area, she would groan or sigh and by the time I reached the bottom of her spine I was contemplating licking my way back up her tattoo and nipping at the back of her neck just to hear more of her teasing sounds. Along the edge of her yoga pants, one star was cut in half by the soft material and I wondered just how low they went.

Under the pretence of working my hands back up her back, I counted them. When I got to the smallest star at the base of her neck I had only counted 35, including the half one, which meant I was still missing two.

Once her back was free of tension and I had no more excuses for staying on top of her; I let myself fall to the side and leaned against the headboard next to her. She turned her head and grinned at me, her eyes hooded with sleep and contentment. "Thank you." She said her voice soft and sexy.

"No problem," I promised, folding my arms behind my head to keep myself from reaching out and touching her.

She moved over, so she was lined up next to me, her hip pressing into mine and laid her head down on my pillow. "I meant for saving my life." She said. "That man would have gunned me down if you hadn't been watching my back today."

I shrugged. "Now were even." She'd saved my life her first night here.

"No were not," She said sleepily. "I owe you a massage now."

I was already in a hot and bothered state and the image of her straddled over me with her soft fingers on my skin was almost enough to send me up in flames.

She was still for so long I thought she'd finally fallen asleep when she glanced over at me and raised herself up onto her forearms. The bra she was wearing did little to cover her bust. I wasn't sure if it was the cool air, or my presence affecting her, that had her nipples standing out. Either way, I had to work hard to keep myself from flipping her over and starting my massage all over on the front half of her sculpted body.

She grinned at me when I finally pulled my eyes up to her face and her bright green eyes sparked with heat. She licked her bottom lip and I had to bite down on mine to keep from moaning. "Question three," She started slowly, watching my face for some sign. "May I kiss you Julie?"

My hormones in overdrive and my panties already ruined I almost begged her to. I loved the sound of my name on her lips. Then I remembered my promise to Ranger and felt guilty. In the last two day I'd already gotten so close to Shilo, I couldn't seem to help myself. We had almost nothing in common and yet I felt like I'd known her for years. I trusted her to have my back and she'd trusted me today with her life.

"What's wrong?" She asked, pulling back a bit. "I'm sorry if I've pushed too fast."

I shook my head quickly, moving closer to her. I stopped when her face was only a few inches from mine. I didn't want her to pull away from me. The comfortable familiarity we already had with each other was amazing and I'd be crushed to lose it.

"No," I said keeping her eyes locked with mine. "You haven't pushed too fast. Trust me I want you too. Not ten minutes ago I was having naughty thoughts about licking those stars."

The corner of her mouth turned up and her eyes flashed again. She seemed to like the idea as much as I had. Maybe someday she'd let me play out that little fantasy.

"Then what's wrong?" She asked. "I hope you know you can talk to me."

I nodded. "I trust you," I told her honestly. "like I've never trusted anyone before. It's crazy how easy this feels with you after only a couple of days."

She nodded. "I trust you too."

"The only thing is I'm having some guilt problems."

She crooked a dark red eyebrow at me and lowered herself back to her stomach, pressing into my side to give me the courage to keep speaking. "You see," I started, finding it easier to speak when she wasn't looking right at me. "I sort of made a promise to Ranger, that I'd keep my relationship with you professional."

She turned her head and pressed her nose against my hip, where my shirt had scrunched up a little bit, leaving an inch of skin exposed on my side. "And you're telling me RangeMan policy has no problem with coworkers licking each other's tattoo's?" She asked sweetly.

My cheeks flamed and nearly jumped out of my skin when her lips touched my side. This woman had no idea what she did to me. When the tip of her tongue poked out and touched my overheated skin, I moaned. The sound was embarrassingly loud and I knew my eyes had darkened lustfully at the smirk on her face when she looked up at me. "I think it's too late to keep this professional." She said.

I nodded, trying to slow my racing heart as I sunk down onto the mattress next to her. "Doesn't change what I said to Ranger."

She pushed herself up onto her forearms again and pressed into me. Her full breasts pressed against my side, she brushed her lips softly along my jaw before whispering into my ear. "You'll just have to tell him it was my fault."

When her lips met mine I nearly combusted. The kiss started gentle and light, her lips were soft against mine and she smelt like lavender and some other floral scent I didn't have a name for. I pressed into her, deepening the kiss by sweeping my tongue along her bottom lip. She opened her mouth to me and her tongue touched mine. She moaned and I moved one of my hands into her hair. By the time we parted for air, she'd moved one of her legs between mine and one of her hands was on my hip under my clothes. My hand, that wasn't in her hair, had moved to her back and was trailing my nails slowly over those panty-wetting stars.

We were both breathing hard, our faces flushed, and her eyes had lightened to a shade of green closer to jade then her usual emerald. Her red hair had spilled around her shoulders and tickled my skin where it brushed against my shoulders and neck.

"Maybe I should go back to my room." She said after a moment.

I shook my head. "Please stay."

She leaned down and kissed me again. This kiss was less heated, and there was no tongue. When she pulled back we untangled ourselves and I pulled the covers over us. It was only seven and we haddn't eaten diner yet, but I was beat and with the adrenalin after our fiery make out wearing off, I was crashing fast. She laid down next to me.

"Are you sure?" She asked hesitantly.

I moved into her side and stuck my nose in her hair, taking a deep breath of her warm scent, trying to name the different components of it. "Only if you want too," I said. "I don't want to push _you_ too fast."

"I'd love to stay."

I was silently grateful for the stress of the long day, which left us both to worn out to continue. I knew that I trusted Shilo and it was clear that my body wanted her bad, but I didn't know if I was ready to fall into bed with her yet. I'd ruined other friendships by taking that step to quickly and even if nothing romantic ever came of this I knew I'd be crushed to lose her friendship.

* * *

><p>~Darkrose<p>

Question 2- What is your favorite drink?


	5. Chapter 5

I've already given away my favorite drink. I love lemonade! But not pink lemonade, or raspberry lemonade or any of those other things, just _plain_ old fashion lemonade. I also have yet to find a lemon flavored alcoholic drink I don't enjoy.

Also, I apologies for the delay in posting this, I've been doing some editing to the earlier chapters, nothing big just grammar work and a handful of spelling errors. Little things like that. Here it is and as always, I hope you enjoy.

***My translator stopped working "grumblepoutwhine", so for the sake of ease, since I'm betting most of us don't read Celtic anyways. Anything written in (brackets) was said in Celtic.**

* * *

><p>"Te Amo"<p>

Chapter 5

**Pov- Julie**

I was drawn from my sleep by a string of raspy coughs and for a split second couldn't figure out who'd be in my room making all of that noise. Then I remembered, Shilo. I sat up in a heartbeat and found her sitting next to me, taking slow deep breaths.

"You alright?" I asked, hitting the bedside lamp.

She opened her mouth to speak again and coughed. Once she'd calmed back down she looked at me and nodded. I slid out of the bed, shivering as my bare feet hit the cool floor and hurried into the kitchen. Ella, our resident food fairy, had left stuff in my fridge for us. I grabbed a couple of bottles of water and sat back down next to Shilo.

She took the bottle I offered her and tilted her head back to drink. Her throat was a mess of dark bruising and red stitches. "Thanks." She said, her voice still harsh after the water.

"No problem, how's it feel?"

She laid back down on the bed and wiggled under the covers. "Warm and toasty, you should come back to bed."

I grinned at her. "Pulling the tigers tail," I warned. "I almost jumped you last night." I thought I'd be embarrassed to admit that, but I was glad to see the ease with which we had been able to talk last night was still here.

She sat back up, leaning against the headboard and took another long pull from her water bottle. "Say's the girl who wants to eat my stars." She said with a smirk, her eye's glinting playfully when I huffed at her.

"You enjoyed the image of that little fantasy as much as I did. Don't even try to deny it." I defended myself, then our playful flirting was cut off by the roar of my stomach.

She grinned. "We never ate dinner last night."

I wondered back to the kitchen and pulled a couple of wrapped sandwiches out of the fridge along with another round of water. I moved back to my side of the bed and passed her a sandwich. "Think you can manage that?" I asked, hoping the food wouldn't hurt her throat.

She nodded. "It's not so bad after the water." She said carefully massaging at her neck. "The stitches kind of hurt though."

"We can call Bobby up with some pain meds after we eat."

We both dug into our food then, enjoying the quiet of the morning and the comfortable companionship. Shilo set her food away after only half and turned back to her water bottle. "Ok, I lied." She admitted, her voice scratchy and shallow. "Swallowing hurts."

"I bet it's sore for a while, that guy almost strangled you."

I cleaned up after our improvised diner and saw it was only five in the morning. I sent Bobby a text with a request for pain meds when he was up. I plugged my phone in and turned around, leaning against the counter. Shilo had lain back down in my bed, her red hair spilled around her shoulders and the earth tone bed sheets.

She rolled over to face me and caught me watching her. She opened her mouth to speak, but I cut her off. "Yes, I see something I like." I said, beating her to the answer of her favorite question.

She grinned at me. "Good to know, however that is not what I was going to ask this time." I raised an eyebrow for her to continue. "I was just remembering a conversation we had a few nights ago." She said. "When I asked you why the men here all call you Tiger."

My turn to grin. "I was wondering when you were going to bring that up again."

"I believe you mentioned a tattoo of your own?" She asked. "I was hoping that since you seem so enthralled by my ink, I might get to enjoy yours."

I pushed off from the counter and moved over to the bed. I sat down near her knees with my back to her and pulled off my shirt. It felt like déjà vu of the night before, only our places were now reversed. I felt the bed shift as she scooted closer. Her knees on either side of my hips and I shivered when her warm finger touched my back.

I'd gotten my tattoo for my ninetieth birthday without my mother's knowledge. She still didn't know I had it, unless Ranger had told her. The full-bodied tiger was poised along my back, his front paw starting at the base of my neck and the tip of his tail ending at the bottom of my spine. He was facing my body; his claw's out to make it look like he was holding onto me, but his head was turned in profile so everyone could see his face.

I shivered again when she traced a finger lightly down my spine. I turned my head to see her reaction and she smiled at me. "He's beautiful." Her fingers started to move again tracing along the flames that licked around his paws and the stripes that coated his body. I'd added no color to the tattoo, afraid that orange ink might not come out well with my darker skin tone.

When her finger hit the bottom of my bra, she paused. "Would you mind if I unclipped this?" She asked her voice soft and questioning. I shook my head, not trusting my voice, and crossed my arms over my chest to keep it in place as her fingers easily undid the hooks.

With the obstacle out of her way, she continued her path up my back, leaving goose bumps behind. "Tiger, definitely makes sense now." She said. "I think this is very appropriate for you."

I never got the chance to ask her why she thought that. At that moment someone knocked gently on my bedroom door and I jumped liked I'd been taserd. I felt Shilo pull away from me and was mad our moment had been interrupted.

I quickly righted my bra and pulled my shirt down, moving towards the door. Bobby was standing in the hallway and he grinned at me when I glared out at him. "Morning!"

I narrowed my eyes at him. He was freshly shaved and washed, looking bright and chipper this morning. I hadn't expected him to get my text so quickly.

He raised an eyebrow when I didn't move aside and let him in. "Didn't you get my text?" He asked. "I said I was on my way up. I didn't interrupt anything I hope?" He added the last part with a shit-eating grin and I debated on hitting him.

"Come on in."

He followed me into the room and stopped when he saw Shilo still comfortably lounged on my bed in her bra, her yoga pants slung low on her hips. "Slumber party?" He asked.

I hit him.

He pulled away from me and rubbed at his arm, fainting injury. "Now is that any way to treat your favorite uncle, who is going out of his way to make a house call with your medication? I could have made you come down stairs to me."

"Pretty sure Tank is my favorite right now." I mumbled.

"That hurts Niña." He said, passing me a couple of pills. "And to think you've always been my very favorite niece."

I rolled my eyes. I was Bobby's only niece, and technically, we weren't even related. Bobby had a small family with no brothers or sister and his wife was unable to give him children of his own. I took the pills and sat down next to Shilo again, noting the blush on her cheeks. She was probably debating wither or not to go along with Bobby's guess that we had spent the night together or making up an excuse for being in my room at this unbearably early hour.

I put her out of her misery. I trusted Bobby not to take this info and go running back to Ranger before I'd had the chance to talk to him, and I would have to talk to him eventually. I knew after last night that I was going to go as far with this relationship as Shilo would let me. Professional distance could kiss my ass. "Shilo fell asleep here last night." I told him. "Nothing scandalous happened."

Bobby smirked at me, passing Shilo a set of pills too. "Did I imply that I believed illicit activities had gone down here?" He asked. "Your both adults, your business is your own. Don't mind a nosy old man."

I rolled my eyes again. "Thanks for the med's. Now get out."

"Not a chance." He said. "Since I conveniently have you both sitting right here, I need to check your stitches too."

He started with my head, poking along the lump I had there and giving his all clear that it looked fine. Then he moved to Shilo's side and had her lay down. She tilted her head back so he could see her neck and I was glad to see that she looked more comfortable with him then she had the first night he'd gone over her injuries.

Bobby scowled as he checked over the bruises; he had a particular tick when it came to domestic violence cases that RangeMan helped with. He didn't believe that men should hurt women for any reason. It was easy to see the outline of her attackers hand on the left side of her neck, the right side was pink from her cut and dotted with neat, little black stitches.

"The stitches look alright." He said. "But, the bruising is going to take awhile to heal. I'll have Ella send down some tea and honey when she wakes up. I would suggest sticking with soup for the day so you don't aggravate your throat."

She nodded along and he stood up. "Alright, relax and maybe try to get some more sleep, its early. I'll be around the building all day so call me if you need anything."

"Thanks." Shilo said.

I gave him a quick hug. "Bye."

I shut the door behind him and moved back to the bed. Shilo sipped slowly at her water bottle and looked up at me. "You're not worried about him telling Ranger I stayed the night are you?"

I shrugged. "No, Bobby wouldn't tell him unless he think I'm in danger."

She relaxed a bit and turned on her side to face me. I propped myself up on my elbow and touched her neck. "I'm sorry about your necklace." I told her, letting my finger ghost down the trail of stitches.

She glanced down at my hand and shivered. "Do you know if it was found in the alley?" She asked.

"No, I did ask Tank to look for it thought. I haven't heard back from him yet. If it is found it will have to be collected as evidence though, you wouldn't be able to get it back until the case is closed."

She gave me a small smile. "Thanks,"

"It's important to you."

She nodded. "It belonged to my grandfather." She said. "It's the only thing I have left from before the accident." Her eyes hardened the way they always did when she relived memories of that night.

"I'm sorry I keep bringing that night up."

She shrugged. "It's alright; mostly I've excepted what happened."

"Mostly?"

She nodded. "It's always bothered me, not knowing why the fire happened."

"They never found a cause?"

She shook her head, and I watched her eyes flash again before she dropped down onto her back and closed her eyes.

**Pov- Shilo**

In the official police report, the cause of the house fire had been labeled the cause of 'faulty wiring' in the attic. My guess was small grade explosives, planted while we were out that day. I really didn't remember that night to well. I just remembered waking up in a room full of smoke and stumbling into the hallway. I suppose I should be grateful I woke up at all.

Ryan had found me, crying in the hall, and carried me out to the backyard. He'd left me there, told me not to run off, and had gone back inside to look for Peter. The next thing I remembered was waking up in the hospital all alone. A man, I'd only meet a couple of times before, was there to collect me and I left the country with him the next night.

Col. Lowry and my father had been friends for years. They'd meet at some conference or other and kept in touch. Apparently, my father had listed Col. Lowry as a contact in case a next of kin couldn't be found in an emergence. Later, I learned that my father had also told Col. Lowry about my family's fighting with the O'Donnell's, so he would know encase he ever got 'the call.' At the time he probably never guessed that a police officer from Ireland would call to tell him that his friend's daughter had been left orphaned and he was the only person available to keep her from winding up in child services.

"What are you thinking about?"

I glanced up; she'd been so quiet, that for a moment, I'd lost myself in my own ponderings. Julie was lying on her side next to me, watching me with calculating eyes.

"Nothing," I said easily, trying to relax my stiff shoulders.

"Nothing, wouldn't upset you this much." She pressed, proving how well she could read my face even when I tried to keep things hidden.

I shrugged. "I was just thinking about Col. Lowry."

"You don't like him very much do you?" She asked.

I shook my head quickly. "It's not that I don't like him." I said quickly. "I respect him a lot and I'm grateful he took me in when he did, because he sure didn't have too. We just don't get along very well."

"Why did Col. Lowry adopt you?" She asked. "If he already had so many children of his own and I know he's not from Ireland."

"Friend of the family." I said. "He knew my dad for years, even before I was born. They called him after the accident and he flew out to get me. Apparently, he was on my next of kin list."

"Why don't you get along?"

I smirked remembering other people asking the same question. "Because we're both bull stubborn, pig headed, jack asses who expect to be treated with respect. We always clashed heads and as I got older, I started to fight back more vocally. I don't take orders well, never have, and he doesn't except anything less than total obedience.

The thing I'm most grateful for is the fact that he always pushed all of us kids to be independent, strong, individuals. He treated me like one of his own children, but made sure I remembered my birth family. He encouraged me to keep up on my Celt and told me all kinds of stories about trips he'd taken with my dad and the times he'd meet my mom. He made sure I remembered where I'd come from and who I was."

"Tell me more about your family." She asked. She had lain down on her stomach next to me, and was flush against my side.

"That's a lot of people to cover." I told her. "Every star on my back has a name and a story."

She reached over and took my left hand, running her finger over the small collection of stars there. "Start with this one," She said rubbing her thumb over the largest one at the base of my hand. "We can move on from there."

I nodded. "The top one is for my father, Brian. Under him is my mom, and the five of us kids. I have a picture back home. I wish I would have thought to bring it with me." Oh! I sat up quickly. "Let me go get my laptop, I do have a picture."

She let go of my hand and I pulled on the shirt I'd rejected last night to scuttle across the hallway. In my room I grabbed my laptop case and took a second to brush my teeth before heading back over. Lester caught me opening Julie's door and grinned at me. I waved and shut the door quickly behind me.

Julie hadn't moved, but when I sat down and opened the laptop on my lap she sat up next to me and watched.

"You have a lot of security." She pointed out as I entered in a third password.

I nodded. "I'm a hacker," I reminded her. "I have a lot of powerful systems on my computer and I don't need someone using them against me." If I could, I'd have a finger print scanner attached, but I wasn't sure how to do that. Yet.

I flipped through a few files and finally found the small collection of pictures I had saved there. I pulled up an old picture from when I was seven. It was the only one I had of my full family. "That's my Dad." I told her pointing him out in the picture.

My father was a tall man with black hair and dark eyes. He had on a soft smile as he looked over at my mom. My mom's name was Emily, and she was standing at his side with my youngest brother, Peter, in her arms. In front of them were my other brothers and I. I pointed out each one and gave her names. "Theo's the oldest and the only one, besides me, who got mom's red hair. That's James with his arms crossed and Ryan next to him. They'd been fighting about something before the photo was taken that's why James looks mad, he lost."

"Ryan's the one who saved you right?" She asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, he carried me outside and went back in for little Peter, there in my mom's arms. He was only one or two in this photo."

"Who's the man next to your father?"

"That's Col. Lowry, seventeen years ago, He was visiting us. This is one of his photo's, that's the only reason I have it. I lost my Dad, Theo, and James about six months after this shot was taken. It was also the last time I saw Col. Lowry before he came back to get me."

"What happened to your Dad?"

I bit back the growl in my chest and worked to keep from shouted 'O'Donnell happened!' "Car accident," I said once I was sure I could control my voice. "They were sideswiped on their way home by an oncoming car. Dad lost control and they went off the side of a bridge. It took rescue workers to long to get the car out of the water. No one escaped."

"I'm sorry." She said.

I shook my head. "Not like it was your fault."

"No," She agreed. "But, I always seem to bring up sad memories when I ask you questions."

"There are a lot of sad memories in my past." I admitted. "It might make you feel better to know that I've shared things with you that I've never told anyone outside of Col. Lowry and his boys."

"Why me?" She asked.

I turned my head to face her and waited until she looked at me with those big brown eyes. "Because I trust you."

She smiled and leaned over to kiss the underside of my jaw. "I'm glad." She said. "I want you to be able to tell me everything. Know that I'd never betray that trust."

We settled down then and Julie fell asleep, tucked into my side. I closed my eyes, but couldn't stop my mind from racing. It was six, early enough to head down stairs, but Ranger only wanted us to take a half-shift today and I wasn't quite ready to leave Julie. After another half-hour of failed attempts to sleep, I opened my laptop. I needed to do something productive or I'd develop a twitch.

I started with some search programs, finding one in particular I hoped with help me finally identify the name belonging to the crest we'd taken off O'Donnell's man. I started by searching for any, and all, news articles released that included the O'Donnell family and then got a list of other family names mentioned in those same stories. Once I had the list it just became a game of finding a crest for each one and comparing them.

When Julie opened her eyes again, at eight, I'd found it.

"Did you get any sleep?" She asked, pushing herself to her knees and glancing at my screen. "What's that?"

"Nope," I smiled at her. "I found it."

"No way." She spun around and sat next to me so she could see better. "Who is he?"

"The family name has been Americanized, that's why we didn't find it right away. The original Irish name is ó Loinsigh, but that strand of the name has since been lost. However, nearly a hundred years ago a branch of the family moved here, to the states, and the name was Americanized into the name Lynch." I explained showing her the crest I'd pulled up, a blue fox guarding the top of a shield decorated with clovers.

I showed her a few of the articles I'd found where the names O'Donnell and Lynch were mentioned together. Apparently, the Lynch family had been pirating guns across the ocean for years, to sell on the black market, and the O'Donnell's were believed to be their counterpart working from Ireland, sending them the guns. Of course, the articles were all assumptions, I couldn't find a case that had actually stuck. There also seemed to be a recurring theme of witnesses who went missing before they could testify.

"So maybe that's why they're in Trenton." Julie said. "Something's going on with the gun ring and some of the O'Donnell's came over here to investigate."

I nodded. "Maybe, I don't know if this info will help us catch Michael, but it might give a clue as to what they're doing."

"I wonder what guns have to do with a kidnapping."

I'd forgotten that part. When I'd spoken to O'Donnell's man he'd said the family was here to get someone. He hadn't been positive it was a kidnapping, but he'd said it was likely. If this was about guns, why would they take someone?

There was a knock on the door and Ella let herself in, bringing with her a tray of goodies for us to eat for breakfast. There were soft scrambled eggs, some fresh, warm muffins and a bowl of fruit. Along with the food, she'd brought in tea with honey, as Bobby had promised, and said it would make my throat feel better.

We thanked her for the meal and dug in, trying to come up with more theories about what the O'Donnell's were doing based off the info I'd found.

"I'll text Dad and have him and the core team meet with us after lunch down on five." She said. "They'll want to know what you've found; maybe they have more info now too."

I nodded along and we ate together. After breakfast, we split up to shower in our own rooms and get dressed. I let myself back into her room once I was ready for the day in my RangeMan uniform and found her working with her hair in the bathroom.

"Want me to show you that bun?" I asked.

She nodded. "Could you?"

I took her brush from her and brought a stood from the kitchen into the bathroom so she could see what I was doing in the mirror. First, I pulled her hair into a high pony-tail and brushed it free of tangles.

"It's been a long time since someone brushed my hair for me." She said, giving me a small smile. "I forgot how nice it feels."

I nodded back, remembering how she'd taken care of me last night. I'd been dead tiered as we settled in for bed and had been planning on just leaving my hair up since I didn't have the energy to deal with it. It had been a long time since anyone had taken care of me the way she had.

"I still owe you a massage."

I braded her hair and twisted it up into a neat little bun, pinning it all around the base so it would stay in place. When I was done, I waved my hands and said 'Ta Da!'

She grinned. "Thanks."

Julie texted Ranger and he called us down stairs immediately. We found the usually contingent of mainstream RangeMen waiting for us in five's largest meeting room. I hooked my laptop up to a monitory on the wall and started pulling up the stories I'd found.

Ranger made a fast phone call and hoped that within the hour we'd have a name to put with the man being held at TPD. Ranger was particularly interested in the possibility of this being a gun ring, but like Julie and I, couldn't see how that tied to a kidnapping. The new information gave everyone a burst of hope that we would find something and everyone left the room eager to start working.

"To bad we can't talk to him again." Lester pointed out. "It would have been nice to interrogate him with this new info."

Ranger called Julie and I to wait while the other's left the room and Steph was with him. Stephanie was going to bring me over to TPD again today so I could give my statement on the fight in the alley. My necklace had not been found at the scene.

"I'm sorry Shilo." Julie said. "He must have carried it with him into the van."

Ranger shrugged. "The van hasn't been found yet, if it shows up I'll let you know."

"Thanks," I said. "I'm not sorry I was wearing it." I told him. "But, I am sorry I broke your rule about jewelry in the field." and that I pushed Julie into breaking her word to you as well. I kept that last part to myself, no need for him to know that bit yet.

He nodded. "What's done is done. If you leave now, you can probably get out of TPD in an hour."

I nodded. "Alright."

"I'll go with you." Julie offered. "You know, for emotional support."

Ranger shook his head. "You've already given your report. There's a stack of searches at your desk if you're feeling up to work."

"Alright."

She gave me a small smile and headed out to the main floor. Steph and I headed straight down to the garage, I wanted to get this over with. We took one of the black SUV's and Steph parked near the back door. We let ourselves in and had our badges checked.

Steph led the way to Detective Morelli's office. It was hard to look at him this time without remembering that he'd once dated Stephanie. I wonder what had drawn her to him? I guess he was sort of handsome, for a man.

"You seem to be getting into a lot of trouble." He said, smiling at me. "Work with Manoso long enough and you might just get yourself killed."

I nodded. "Job hazard."

"I'll be doing your statement today. We got in a gang homicide last night so everyone's wrapped up at the moment. Steph you can wait for her in my office if you want."

Stephanie smiled, but declined his offer, choosing instead to go and look for a couple of other people she knew who worked here so she could say hello.

I followed Detective Morelli into the same room I'd done my last statement in and he started with all of the basic questions. "Why were you in the alley?" "How did you find O'Donnell?" "Explain the events that led to your injuries?" "Had I seen the license plate of the van?" "Would I recognize the man who'd attacked me?" blah blah blah.

I answered everything, honestly and completely with neat short explanations. I recounted everything I could remember to the fight up until I passed out and then mentioned waking up at the hospital. He took a couple of photos of my neck and said he could get copies of the medical records from Bobby for the report.

I moved to stand up once he turned off the recording device that had been taping my statement, but he called my name.

"Actually Miss Lowry, there is one more thing I was hoping to talk to you about."

I nodded, "I thought there might be."

"I assume then that Ranger has told you about our phone calls?"

I nodded. "You want a translator too."

"Yes," He said simply. "We've been calling other departments around the state, but it turns out its difficult to find someone proficient at the language."

"Celt's not exactly common in the states." I agreed.

He nodded. "The department was wondering if you might be willing to lend your services to our investigation as well."

"Won't my contributions be contaminated if I'm also working for RangeMan?"

He shrugged. "RangeMan is solely responsible for finding Michael O'Donnell because of his current status as FTA. The TPD have since expanded our investigation. The guns that were taken off O'Donnell in his initial charge were found to be connected to a string of illegal guns found in New York a few months ago. That case is still active and now we're helping out. Michael O'Donnell is still wanted for questioning in two murder charges, but now we're hoping to bring the whole lot of them in and find a way to connect them to the New York guns. This family is turning out to have their fingers in a lot of different pies and I want them out of Trenton before a mob war breaks out."

"What would I be doing for you exactly?" I asked. "It's not like you have a phone number I can use to call these guys up and ask them if they're importing unregistered firearms and god knows what else across the country."

He nodded. "You would only be part of our investigation on an interpreter level. No fieldwork. We'll bring in anyone we want you to talk to and you would help with our interrogations here at the station."

"You want me to start with the man RangeMan handed over?"

He nodded. "That would be step one. From what we understand he didn't say much during his time at RangeMan, but what he did say was said only to you. We believe your contributions to this case would be invaluable, and you would be compensated for your time."

My first instinct was to shut him down. I didn't like cops. However, another little voice in my head was thinking that this could be a great way to work both sides. I could pick and chose which information I shared with the TPD and give Ranger anything that would help him find Michael. It would also give me more time to talk to Lynch, now that I had some real info on him. He might be willing to share more about the possible kidnapping if I could get him to trust me. It wouldn't be the first time I'd played both sides.

I nodded, "Would I be allowed to talk to Stephanie and Ranger first?" I asked. "I want to make sure he's alright with my attention being divided."

He shrugged. "The sooner we can start the better and if you would like, we don't have to tell Manoso you're helping us."

"I won't sneak around behind his back." I said flatly. I was already doing that with Julie. I didn't need to give the man more reasons to hate me. "Just give me two minutes."

I stood up before he could call me back and let myself into the hallway. Stephanie was down the hall talking to another officer and she waved to me when she saw me. She excused herself from her conversation and met me halfway. "What's up?" She asked seriously. "You look like you have a question."

I nodded. "Morelli asked me to help TPD with the case."

"I told you they would." She said. "What's he offering you?"

"Money, I was thinking it might actually be a good thing." I quickly explained about the expanded investigation that TPD was running on the O'Donnell family and how we might be able to get more information if I was running all of the interrogations.

She nodded. "I think it's a good idea, let me call Ranger and catch him up."

While Steph was on the phone Morelli and another detective caught me in the hall. I'd been pacing a bit so they managed to corner me against the wall, away from Stephanie.

"So is Manoso going to let you play with us too?" Joe asked. I was starting to think Julie was right. Morelli and Ranger might be able to get along in the field, but they weren't friends.

"Ranger doesn't make my choices for me." I said sharply. "I merely wanted his opinion before I agreed to work with you since he did higher me first."

Both detectives smiled at that and I smirked. Let them think I wasn't a big fan of Ranger, it might get them to share more information with me. Rule one, when playing both sides, is to give both sides the opinion that you want the same things as them.

"I'm glad to hear that." The second detective said. "So what do you say?"

Stephanie was off the phone, standing a yard away, listening in on our conversation. At his question, she caught my eye and nodded once that I should go along with it. Apparently, Ranger liked my idea too. "When do we start?" I asked.

The second detective smiled and introduced himself as Detective Sullen. He was leading the investigation on the O'Donnell mess. "Right away, if you have the time. We'd like you to speak with the man RangeMan gave us as soon as possible."

I nodded. "Alright, but you can't use my real name during any of these investigations." I said, I didn't need anyone in league with the O'Donnell's to be able to trace me back to the name Connalay. I didn't know how he'd gotten my name, but if Ranger could find it on accident so could someone else. "When I spoke with him at RangeMan I called myself Sarah."

"Any specific reasons why?" Morelli asked.

"I've done undercover work with Special Force." I explained simply, noting the way his eyebrow rose when I admitted that. "I keep my real name close to my cuff as it were. If I'm going to do this I want another identity to use in front of these men for my own protection."

Sullen nodded eagerly. "Easy enough how does Sarah Roger's sound?"

"Fine."

Detective Sullen waved for me to follow him and Detective Morelli fell back to talk with Stephanie. Probably going to tell her she could leave since I would be staying for a while.

I was following Detective Sullen down a flight of stairs when my RangeMan phone buzzed in my pocket with a message from Stephanie.

'_Zero got a hit- His names Gavin Lynch."_

Good, knowing his name might shock him into spilling something he'd neglected to tell me before. I erased the message and tucked my phone away.

Sullen led me into a room similar to the one at RangeMan. There were a couple of officers sitting around the recording equipment and, through a two-way window, I could see into the interrogation room. There was a single table and chair set up in the center and it was empty.

"We have him in a holding cell." Sullen said when he caught me eyeing the empty room. "So far we haven't managed to find a name for him. I'll have one of the boy's go get him for us."

Sullen left the room and I moved closer to the window. "How is the room monitored?" I asked.

"Cameras in all four corners," One of the officer's explained, standing next to me so he could point them out. "And that thing in the center of the ceiling is the recording equipment. If a mouse farts in that room, we'll hear it."

Good set up.

"You'll wear an ear piece so we can talk to you from this room and an Officer will be posted inside at the door." The other man added. "We can bring in a chair for you if you'd like."

I nodded, "That would be nice actually." This time around, I was going to do more questioning, rather than push on mostly empty threats. I had a feeling that Gavin might just be willing to talk to me, if I could get him to trust me. He'd seemed genuinely afraid that the O'Donnell's would seek retribution against him.

The door in the interrogation room opened and two officers lead Gavin Lynch inside. They cuffed him to the table and left, leaving him alone to sweat under the bright overhead lights. Detective Sullen came in and showed me the earpiece.

"If you can get him talking, I'll feed you specific questions we want answered." He explained.

"Has he said anything at all?" I asked.

Sullen shook his head. "No"

"Just some yelling when we brought him in. Bunch of gibberish." One of the officers at the table said with a chuckle. "It was pretty outrageous; he sounded like a crazy leprechaun."

I scowled and Detective Sullen was the only one looking at me to catch the change in my mood. "It might be best if ye didn't insult me language right before I help you, you ungrateful Gall." I said, laying my accent on thick, hands on hips, eyes narrowed. Leprechaun my ass.

The officer who'd spoken glanced back at me and had the decency to look ashamed. "Sorry." He said.

"What's a Gall?" Sullen asked.

"Outsider, foreigner, non-Irish folk. It's not meant as an insulting term, but it can be used as one."

Once I was hooked up and Sullen had tested my ear piece I walked into the interrogation room. The officer who hadn't insulted me came too, standing near the door.

Gavin looked up at me and smiled. "Bhí mé ag suil a fheieann tú arís Sarah." (I was hoping I'd get to see you again, Sarah.)

I smiled and moved farther into the room, taking the seat opposite him, which had been brought in for me. "Dia duit Gavin, tá sé go maith a fheicann tá chomh maith." (Hello Gavin, it's good to see you as well.)

His smiled faltered for only a moment, but he recovered. "Òs rud é go bhfuil a fhios agat ainm dom bfhéidir, is féidir liom mo bracer ar ais?" (Since you know my name perhaps, I can have my bracer back.)

I shrugged, understanding his wish for the bracelet back now that I'd lost my own pendant. I told him I'd see what I could do, but since he was being held for a murder investigation it wasn't likely they would let me give it back, especially once TPD found out we'd taken it from him.

He frowned. (They have nothing to hold me to those charges, you know as well as I that they will have no choice but to release me soon.)

I nodded (Most likely.)

"Good, you got him talking fast." Sullen said in my ear. "Ask him if he knows anything about a gun ring. Who are the O'Donnell's working with in Trenton?"

(Why have you not told them I speak English?) Gavin asked me, leaning back in his seat. (Are you working for the police or those Bounty Hunter men? What is your part in this?)

I shrugged, mirroring his relaxed posture, no need to mention the gun at my lower back or the knife in my boot. For the moment, I ignored Sullen. (I work for myself, they pay me to talk to you. I get the money wither you answer their questions or not. As for my part. This is my job, nothing more.)

(I doubt that.) He raised an eyebrow at me. (Aren't you going to ask me more about Michael O'Donnell?)

(Do you have more to tell me? You said he was a spoiled brat, I think that covers his part in this story pretty well.)

He nodded. (Then what are you after? What did they send you in here to talk to me about?)

I leaned forward, elbows on the table. (I want to know more about the person you mentioned before) I said. (You said the O'Donnell's were here to get someone, you made it sound like they were planning to kidnap someone. Who? Why?)

He shook his head, (The older O'Donnell's are the ones after this kid. I don't know who he is; some guy they want to talk to. They say he's got something that belongs to the O'Donnell family. Personally, I think some of the older O'Donnell's are off their rockers. All hung up in the old world. It's Michael and his cousins that are taking over the family business.)

(The guns?) I guessed.

He shrugged. (Maybe, I will tell you nothing that condemns my own family.)

The Lynch's were the ones who ran the guns here in the states. The O'Donnell's were supposed to be their connection across the sea. So why where they here? I knew from the set of his jaw and the hard turn of his eye, he wouldn't break on this front. Gavin would tell me _nothing_ that would endanger his own family, even at the cost of his life. Another fine example of stubborn Irish pride.

"Did he know about the guns?" Sullen asked in my ear. I wasn't sure how he expected me to answer him. "Ask him about meeting places." He continued. "Where can we catch them with the guns? Would he testify in court? We can cut a deal with him." I ignored Sullen again. I was starting to think Sullen was a moron.

After a moment, I figured the best way to keep Gavin talking to me was to return my attention back to the O'Donnell's. He seemed willing, for the most part, to spill his information on them. (A kid or an adult?) I asked for clarification. We would need to move faster if they were after a child.

He shrugged. (Mid twenties, I think they said. That's younger then me so I say kid.)

(You're sure it's a boy?)

He nodded. (Yes.)

(Do you have a name?)

He shook his head. (No)

(Location?)

(Somewhere nearby. I know they had men watching him, but last I knew they hadn't approached him yet.)

(Is he in danger?)

Gavin nodded. (Anyone who doesn't listen to the O'Donnell's, or get's in their way, is in trouble, wither he knows it yet or not.)

(Are you afraid they'll kill you when you are released from here?)

(Michael already gunned down one of my brothers in order to clean up loose ends.) He said and the anger in his eyes darkened. Gavin didn't like the O'Donnell's anymore; if he ever had to start with. (That shows you how important we are to them.)

(You could always strike a deal.) I said. (RangeMan or TPD would probably grant you security in exchange for your continued cooperation.)

He smirked, (The only one I've cooperated with is you.)

(Not too late,)

He shook his head. (I will not deal, and I will speak with no one, but you.)

(Why me?)

He looked me over for a moment and I fought not to fidget in my seat. After a moment he smirked. (You are from the Heartland.) He said. Heartland in this case meaning Ireland. (You understand what these men cannot. Family, above all else, is sacred.)

Then he motioned to my neck. (Who scratched you beautiful?)

(One of our mutual friends.)

He shook his head. (Little girl's best not play in the affairs of crazy old men or they will get hurt. Best to return to your family and forget the name O'Donnell.) I'd been trying to forget the name for years. It wasn't going to happen.

(TPD's not really interested in Michael.) I told him honestly. Not sure why I suddenly wanted to help Gavin, but here I was doing it. He'd struck a chord with me. I had no family and it was because of the O'Donnell's and here Gavin was, trying to protect his own family from the same fate. Can you blame me? (They want to know about the guns.) I continued. (They're working with some police in New York who busted one of your gun rings a few months ago.)

He shook his head and mumbled under his breath. The only word I caught was 'clusterfuck' in English, which lead me to believe he knew about the New York incident. (Your best bet for safety is with RangeMan.) I pressed hoping, without reason, he would believe me. (Better still would be to gather your family, change your name, and run away.)

He raised an eyebrow at me. (You have experience with this?) He asked.

(I don't run) Not anymore.

He nodded his head. (I will say no more, Miss Sarah, if that is your real name. Tell your police friends that I have no information on gun's and never will, even if they keep me in this cell till my bones rot. I will not deal. I do not know where the O'Donnell's are, nor where they meet or who they speak with. I know nothing.)

I nodded, respecting his wishes. (Very well; Goodbye Gavin.)

(Till next time.) He agreed.

I stood and left the room, the officer who'd been watching from the door followed me. I rejoined Detective Sullen in the first room and removed my earpiece. A sick feeling had settled into the pit of my stomach and as I watched another pair of officer's collect Gavin and take him from the room, I knew I was watching a dead man. He wouldn't ask for help, he wouldn't give up his family, he was trapped with no way out.

"Well?" Sullen asked, with all the excitement of a puppy who'd just been asked 'wanna go outside?'

I noted a few more faces in the watching room, including Detective Morelli. "He wouldn't say much." I said. "He doesn't know where the O'Donnell's meet. He wouldn't say who they are speaking with. He wouldn't say anything about the guns. He doesn't want to deal with you or RangeMan," I continued fighting with wither or not I should mention the possibility of a kidnapping. "He won't testify against the O'Donnell's or put blame on his family. I believe he is protection them. He's more afraid of the O'Donnell's then anything, any of us can throw at him. You're not going to get anything out of him and he knows you can't hold him."

"You spoke for an awful long time to get nothing." Morelli said.

I frowned at him. "I didn't say I got nothing. I was saying he didn't answer any of the question's Detective Sullen asked me to speak about. Let me finish, please. He's not a member of the O'Donnell family of this I'm sure. He doesn't like them and in my culture family is everything."

"You don't have to like your family." One of the officers's said. "You just have to live with them."

I shook my head and brushed my hair out of my face. Gavin had been right that they didn't understand. "Not in my country." I pressed. "You don't have to like your family, but family is everything. It is sacred. You don't abandon your family, and you don't turn on them. He told me what little he knew about the O'Donnell's, he wouldn't have done that if he was part of the family."

"What did he say then?" Morelli asked.

I had to tell them. The kidnapping wasn't part of RangeMan's case to catch Michael and it wasn't fair to play with the life of an innocent person when the TPD might be able to do something about it. "He didn't know much about why they are here. He said his job was to watch over Michael. Apparently, he's the family reject. Everyone's got one. He did however say that he believed the O'Donnell's were here on personal business. He thinks they're after someone in the area, he made it sound like they are planning a kidnapping. He didn't know who the victim was, only that he was male and in hes mid-twenties. The O'Donnell's have been watching this man for a few days, but as far as he knows they haven't made any move to approach him yet."

"A kidnapping?"

I nodded. "Yes."

"That complicates things."

Things moved quickly from there. Detective Sullen was very grateful for my help and promised to call if they had anyone else for me to speak with or if Gavin requested my presence with anything. I didn't tell them he spoke English. Detective Morelli escorted me back upstairs and pressed for any more details I knew. I had nothing more, I'd told them everything that related to the case.

He stopped in the hall and waved me forward. A small group of people, in black, were waiting for me in the lobby, reminding me of the pod of support who'd been at the hospital. As I walked towards them, I realized that in my three days in Trenton, I'd not only gotten in more trouble that I had in the last year, I'd finally found a team I could work with. Lester, Hector, Julie and Razor all stood to greet me and we moved together out to the large black SUV waiting for us.

* * *

><p>~Darkrose<p>

Question 3- Do you have a nick-name?

***My translator stopped working (grumblepoutwhine), so for the sake of ease, since I'm betting most of us don't read Celtic anyways. Anything written in (brackets) was said in Celtic. I'll post the Celtic words as soon as I get my translator working again. **


	6. Chapter 6

My nick-name is Jazz. All of my friends call me that. They have for years. I don't even remember how it started anymore. Your comment's make me smile and prove to me that I am not crazy for falling head over heels for this story. Thank you for your kind words and as always, enjoy.

* * *

><p>"Chapter 6"<p>

Te Amo

**Pov- Julie**

Ranger called a meeting as soon as we pulled into the RangeMan lot. Shilo hadn't said anything about her second talk with Gavin on the drive since we all knew she'd have to tell the story over again. Every gathered around the conference table. Dad, Steph, Hector, Tank, Lester, Blaze, and Hal. Bobby came in and passed Shilo a couple of pain pills along with a glass. She smiled at him and tossed them back. Her neck must be bugging her.

I sat down next to Blaze and Shilo sat on the end next to me. Ranger told us earlier that Shilo had agreed to work with TPD. It caught me off guard since I knew she wasn't comfortable with police. I wondered what had changed her mind. Dad started the meeting quick and then tossed the reigns over to Shilo so she could fill us all in on everything she'd learned.

She told us everything; Starting with her statement and Morelli asking her to work with TPD. Then she moved onto her interrogation and the information she'd gathered from Gavin Lynch. "Morelli said they'd call the control room if they needed to reach me." She explained.

"You didn't tell them he spoke English?" Hal asked.

I shook my head. "Didn't seem important; besides you guys didn't mention it when you dropped him off."

"You're starting to sound like you like this guy." Lester said offhanded, "Don't forget he tried to kill Julie, would have tried to kill you too."

Shilo shrugged her shoulders. "He was doing his job when he attacked us. I don't like him, but I get what he's doing. He's protecting his family, regardless of the cost to himself. That's something I can respect."

"We should put more effort into the possibility of a kidnapping." Tank said. "This whole thing feels off to me. What porpoise would they have to come all the way to America just to kidnap someone, when the Lynch's are working for them? Who are they after?"

There were some general murmurings of having no flipping idea. Nothing about this case made sense anymore.

"We're all ready monitoring the O'Donnell's." Ranger said. "We'll just have to start paying more attention to what they're doing at each location." He glanced over at Hector. "Have you heard anything in the streets?"

Hector shook his head. "Not much, the gangs don't meddle with mob business."

"Do we know what Family shot up Wild Horse yet?" Hal asked.

Ranger shook his head. "I've made some calls, but nothing yet. So far it looks like all of the locals Families have reason to run the O'Donnell's out of town."

"We're running out of time." Bobby added. "Michael's bond runs out in five days."

We talked for a little while longer and then the meeting was interrupted by a viscous growl from Lester's stomach.

"and with that." Ranger said, smirking at Lester. "Let's break for lunch."

I slid my chair around the corner of the table and stopped at Shilo's side. "You like meatball subs?" I asked her.

She smiled. "Last time we made a lunch date, we got our asses kicked and wound up in the hospital."

I chuckled, "Could be a good way to stumble upon Michael again."

"I'll go with you."

I glanced up as Blaze approached us and sat on the edge of the table. "Razor's itching to get out of the building for awhile." He added. "I was going to ask if you ladies wanted to join us for lunch, but Pino's sounds great."

"What's a Pino?" Shilo asked.

Blaze grinned at me. "She's a Pino's virgin?"

I nodded. "It's her first time to New Jersey, cut her some slack. There hasn't been time for a proper tour of the city yet."

"I'll get Razor and meet you in the garage." He walked away.

"What's Pino's?" Shilo asked again.

I smiled. "Just trust me."

Twenty minutes later, we had the back booth of Pino's all to ourselves. Razor pulled Shilo into the booth seat next to him and I 'accidently' kicked him under the table for taking my chance to sit next to her. As it was, Blaze pulled me down with him and reclined in his seat with one of his long lanky arms thrown along the back of it.

A waitress came over and took our drink orders, leaving menus behind. Shilo picked up the menu and started looking over the selection. After a moment she glanced over the top of it and noticed none of us had moved to pick up our menu's.

"I take it you come here a lot?" She asked.

I nodded. "It's a local hot stop/cop shop. Most of the people in here are cop's or family's of cop's. We probably come here once a week."

"Foods great." Razor added, "Why don't we just order two large garbage pizza's?"

I shook my head. "Can't."

"You love the garbage pizza." Blaze said.

"I do," I agreed. "and we can get it, but no mushrooms this time." I said, remembering when Shilo had asked me to order for her at the dinner.

"Why?" He asked.

Shilo raised her hand. "My fault, I'm allergic."

"Two giant garbage pizza's hold the mushroom's of death." Razor said when the waitress came back and set our drinks down."

"Is it a bad allergy?" Blaze asked.

Shilo nodded. "If I think about mushrooms for too long I break out in hives. If I were to eat one you'd have maybe ten minutes to get me to a hospital."

"Sounds like my allergy to monitor duty." Razor asked, effectively getting us all laughing.

"Not sure the Boss would buy that one." Blaze teased.

We chatted easily until the food got there and then everyone's attention diverted to the pizza. After the first few bites were down, we started talking again. I felt Shilo's leg touch mine under the table and, when I looked up, she smiled at me. I grinned and pressed back, glad for the small connection.

We ate, we talked, and when we couldn't put it off anymore, we returned to the RangeMan office to get back to work. Shilo went up to her room and came down with her own laptop. I stood next to her cubical and watched as she pulled out a handful of wires and started hooking it up to her RangeMan computer.

"What are you doing?"

She grinned and then dropped to her knees to crawl under the desk and started messing with more wires. "I'm hooking up, I want to use my computer because I'm more familiar with it, but I want to be able to access some of the RangeMan programs."

She sat back in her chair and started to swivel back and forth between the two computers. She hit a button on her laptop and a program on the RangeMan computer popped up and started running.

"Creepy." I said.

"Hack-er" She said in sing-song. "I'll be more productive this way."

I was just turning to leave when Hector came rushing down the hallway.

"One of our alarms went off; someone's hacking into your computer."

Shilo looked up from her monitor. "Oops, I thought I got around all of your security."

Ranger appeared next and raised an eyebrow at the mess of wire's that had magically appeared in Shilo's space. "Problem?" He asked.

"Our alarm went off." Hector said. "Security breach from this computer."

"That was me." Shilo said, she turned to her laptop and started typing. A few boxes popped up and a bunch of long strings of numbers. I didn't get it, but Hector must have. He pulled a chair over and slid in next to her.

"How did you do that?" He asked.

She grinned. "Your alarm shouldn't be going off anymore."

Shilo and Hector started to 'tech talk' and I felt lost. I knew how to use the RangeMan search programs, but I wasn't really a computer person. Ranger cleared his throat and they both looked up. "We good Hector?" He asked.

Hector nodded. "Si, she's got some impressive programs."

Ranger looked at me and I shrugged. Then he turned away and went back to his office. I wondered back over to my own computer and checked on my searches. I finished them up and delivered them to where they each needed to go and went back over to Shilo's cubby. She and Hector were up to their ears in papers and another laptop had been added to the mix.

Blaze was sitting on the floor between their chairs reading and Steph was leaning over another table that had been pulled over and was covered in papers and photos and printouts.

"What the heck?" I asked.

They all glanced over at me. Steph approached me and waved her hands at Shilo and Hector. "Don't stop, you're on a role." They went back to their work, fingers flying over keyboards.

She smiled over at me. "These two are freaking scary."

"You could say that again." Blaze said. He pushed himself to his feet and maneuvered his way out of the cramped cubby to join Steph and me in the hall. "I thought Hector was the only one who could do this freaky shit. It's like they speak computer."

"What are they doing?" I asked. I watched as Shilo rolled from one computer to another and Hector took her place at the screen she'd just left. It was like watching a dance, they didn't even speak.

"They're making a timeline." Steph said.

"And tracking all of the places we've seen the three older members of the O'Donnell family." Blaze added. "When Steph talked to the Lynch guy he said that the younger O'Donnell's were the one's getting into the gun business, but it was the three brothers who were interested in the kidnapping.

"They're using the GPS systems we have in our SUV's to retrace all of the places we've followed them too, marking things like how many times they've been to each restaurant and things like that. Were trying to find a connection between the different places. If they've been following this guy around he's got to be going to some of the same places they are."

Blaze nodded. "Yeah and they've hacked into some computers at other companies, who have camera's in places that might have caught something, so we can use their security camera feeds to look for more info. We could do it the old fashion way and get warrants, but that would take longer."

"We also run searches to find more members of the Lynch family." Hector said, looking up from his work. "It's a fairly common name, but there aren't that many in Trenton. We also cross-reference the names with the area of New York under investigation in the drug case, to find matches. So far we have fourteen different men who all seem to come from the same family."

"To bad we can't be sure which one's are working with the O'Donnell's." Shilo said.

"We can get together a collection of photo's from the stake outs and see if we can match up some of the guy's we've seen working with the O'Donnell's to any of the men you've found." Steph suggested. "Print out a list of those names Hector, with driver license photo's if you can."

Hector grinned. "I could get you high school year book photos if you really wanted them."

Steph laughed. "That's ok, the more recent the photo the better."

"Why does it matter who they are?" I asked.

"It may not." Shilo said. "But, until we have something else to go on, this is all we can do. It's more info then we had before."

"Information is power."

Ranger came over an hour later to chase Shilo and I off the work floor. We'd already gone over the half-shift deal. For now, we were dividing the work into three separate categories. One team was going to work on matching the photo's we had of the O'Donnell's and their men to the list of possible suspect's. If nothing else, it would help us get their names when all this shit hit the fan.

Group two, was going to continue focusing on catching Michael. We'd only caught sight of him once since Wild Horse, but everyone was determined to catch him before his bond ran out.

Team three, was putting their efforts into the unknown kidnapping. First, we had to try and find out who the victim was. So far we had found no connections between any of the places the O'Donnell's had visited. We didn't have legal rights to act on the kidnapping, but if we found any solid information we could hand it over to TPD.

Shilo and I wondered upstairs and ended up back in my room. Shilo kicked her shoes off in the entryway and dumped her things on the counter right next to mine. I loved the fact that she already felt comfortable enough to do that.

"I'm beat," She said, falling face first onto the bed. "Ouch" she muttered, no doubt having pulled on her stitches.

"Bobby left us a present." I pointed out, finding two small cup's with our names on them on the counter. Each cup held a pair of pills. I grabbed two water bottles and joined her, passing her the cup with her name on it.

"He's too good to us." She said, tossing both pills into her mouth and chasing them down with water.

"Feel better?" I asked.

She moaned. "Give me five minutes and I'll be fine."

"You could take a nap before dinner." I suggested.

She shook her head and her red hair sprawled out around her shoulders since her face was sill pressed into the blanket. "Can't," She said. "If I sleep now, it will take me a week to get my sleeping pattern back under control."

"Not me." I said. "I can sleep anywhere, any time."

"Lucky."

**Pov-Shilo**

In order to pass the time before diner we lounged on the sofa in Julie's small front living room and watched some show on TV. I wasn't sure what it was, but that was ok. I was more distracted by Julie's legs, tossed over my lap. She was lying along the sofa next to me with her eyes closed, her chest slowly rising and falling with her breathing.

I'd thought she might have fallen asleep until I laid my arms on her legs and the corner of her mouth turned up.

"What are you thinking about?" I asked.

Her eye's cracked open, hooded and dark, "You," She said.

"What about me?" I wondered, letting one of my finger's trail across her knee, drawing random pictures through her pants.

"I was trying to think of another question." She said.

I smirked. "You're already having trouble thinking of them, I have hundreds I want to ask you."

"Oh I have plenty in mind." She assured me. "I'm just trying to think of which ones are the most important."

"Ask the first one that comes to mind." I prodded.

She hesitated and I nearly moaned when she sunk her teeth into her bottom lip. "Question four, Have you ever been in love?" She asked shyly.

Oh dang, we were going to bring up past lovers. I couldn't say I wasn't curious to know about the other people she'd been with, but I wasn't sure I really wanted to know.

She pushed herself up onto her elbows when I didn't answer. "You don't have to tell me," She reminded me. "You can always take the shot."

I shook my head; I wasn't going to take another shot. "Yes," I said softly.

"Yes, you take the shot?" She asked.

"No, yes I've been in love before. Just once."

"Male or female?" She asked.

I grinned, "Female, my bi period was very short. I realized after my second boy friend that I was only interested in the fairer sex. I labeled myself lesbian when I was sixteen, and never went back."

She grinned at me. "What was her name?"

"The team called her Seven, but her real name is Gina."

"She was in the army with you?"

I nodded. "That was how we meet. We trained together and when our task force was put together, we teamed up with a couple of other guys. Everyone on the team took a name to use in the field. We thought it would be fun to name each other after playing cards since our most common pass time was poker."

"What did they call you?" She asked. "You should have told Lester you already have a nick-name."

I shook my head. "I'm not part of the team anymore. I don't want to use that name. Gina was the seven of diamonds." I smirked at her. "They labeled me the ace of clovers, you can guess why they picked that suit, or just Ace for short. The other members of our main team were: Jack, Nine, Wild, Flush, and Joker."

She smiled. "That's brilliant."

"We liked it."

"What does she look like?"

"She was six months older than me, an inch taller and had short brown hair. Her eyes were dark blue, her tongue was sharp, and she was the best-damned sniper I've seen to this day. She could pick a man in the brush off at a hundred yards."

She thought for a moment before asking her next question. "Do you still see her much?"

"No, she umm." How much could I say without saying to much? "Gina passed away just over two years ago."

She pushed herself up onto her elbows. "Oh Shilo I'm so sorry."

"I am too, she shouldn't have died."

"What happened?"

Julie sat up then, tucking her long leg's under her body as she moved to sit next to me. "I can't tell you everything." I told her. "My second mission got fubar'd pretty bad right at the end. Gina took a hit when we were trying to fall back. She died instantly."

"What went wrong?"

I shook my head. "Wrong place wrong time, we had some bad information. I can't say more than that. We managed to do what we needed too, but we lost some good people that night. The hardest part was that we were unable to recover any of the bodies. We had to leave them behind or we all would have died."

"Gina too?"

I nodded. "Yeah, the only thing worse than having to tell her parents she'd been killed in combat, was having to tell them they'd never get to bury her properly."

"You were the one who talked to them."

"Yeah, I went with her commanding officer to speak with them. They knew me, Gina and I had been friends for a couple of years at that point. We were never really a legitimate couple, her parents didn't know she was gay and I never told them. She made me promise not too, although everyone else knew. I didn't even realize that I loved her until it was too late. Losing her was hard."

She'd taken my hand while I was speaking and her thumb rubbed soothing circles into my skin. I didn't realize I'd started crying until she wiped a tear off my cheek.

"Sorry," I said quickly, wiping it away.

"Don't be sorry for crying." She said. "It's harder to face emotions then it is to hide them away. She was your friend, she was important to you. It only makes sense that you would mourn her loss, especially since her death was so tragic."

I smiled at her and took a deep breath, calming myself down. I had mourned Gina for a long time, but I'd come to terms with her death already and I knew she wouldn't want me to sit here like a baby and cry all over the place. In fact, she'd probably kick my ass for it.

"Do you still speak with the rest of your team?" She asked.

I nodded. "Sometimes, we lost Flush and our team medic Nine the same night. They were a couple of great guys too. Jack transferred to the Air Force; Wild was discharged for getting pregnant and never re-enlisted, Joker still does Special Force work, but he's leading his own team now. We talk some and keep in touch, but I haven't seen any of them since the day we had the service for Gina and the boys."

"Is that why you didn't enlist full time?" She asked.

I shook my head. "No, I already knew that I wasn't cut out for the job before the accident, but it certainly didn't give me any second thoughts about changing my mind."

We were silent a moment, sitting together comfortably. "What about you?" I asked, "Same question, anyone special in your past?"

She shook her head. "Nope, I've met some special people. I already told you I'm not a virgin, but I've never really been in love."

There was a soft knock on the door and Ella let herself in. She set up a pot of soup on the stove and laid out a basket of bread on the counter.

"Smell's amazing Ella." Julie said as she stood up, she pulled me to my feet and I followed her into the kitchenette.

"Yeah it does." I agreed, peeking into the simmering pot.

She smiled. "Thank you dears. Bobby recommended the soup for ease on your throat Shilo."

"He's too sweet." I said spooning out soup into both of our bowls.

She nodded. "He would also like to see you both after you eat."

Ella left once she was sure we'd both tasted the soup and loved it. She said she'd be back later and we could leave our dishes in the sink. The soup was amazing. A dark broth filled with potatoes, carrots, and peas. We ate together until we were stuffed and then Julie called Bobby to let him know we were on our way down.

The door to Bobby's clinic was open when we got there and Zero was sitting on one of the tables, a bloody cloth held to his face.

"Zero," Julie moved over to his side. "What happened?"

Bobby chuckled. "He was sparing with Cal."

"Ass almost broke my nose." Zero whined.

Julie wrapped an arm around him and stroked his hair. "I think you'll be ok big guy. Bobby's the best there is. He'll fix you up right."

"Nothing to fix." Bobby said. "Once the bleeding stop's, take some Advil, and sleep it off, you'll have two nice black eye's tomorrow. If you want to get even, remember that Cal likes to fake that he's going left, but he's right hand dominate."

"There you see." Julie said. "A good prognosis and fighting tips; I dare you to name another doctor in the state who could do that."

"You flatter me Niña." Bobby said, pretending to blush. Zero left the room then, and Julie stole his chair sliding it over next to the main examination table.

Bobby nodded at me and waved at the open table. "Hop up little miss, I want to see those stitches."

I took my seat and brushed my hair aside so Bobby could look at my neck. He ran his fingers over the mark and put some salve on it. It was red and sore, but Bobby said it was healing quickly. "You're lucky the wound wasn't too deep." He said. "I should be able to remove those in another day or two then the wound can heal up by itself."

"Good, it itches."

He shook his head. "Don't you dare let me catch you itching it." He warned. "I won't be happy if I have to redo those knots."

"I won't." I promised.

Bobby looked at Julie's stitches next and announced that she was coming along fine too. She wasn't feeling light headed and her appetite hadn't been affected which were both good signs for a head wound. He wanted her to continue to take is easy for a couple of days and take Advil to keep the headaches at bay.

"I don't know how the two of you have managed to find so much trouble in only a couple of days." He said, shaking his head. "But you've certainly come out of it with very little to show. You're both very lucky, I hope you know that."

Julie nodded. "I know, Steph's already making jokes that I get into more trouble than she did back when she first started working for Vinnie."

Bobby laughed. "That's not possible. You've never blown up a car."

They both looked to me and I just shrugged. "Luck of the Irish?"

* * *

><p>~Darkrose<p>

Question 4- Have you ever been in love?

R&R


	7. Chapter 7

**In case you didn't notice, this story has officially moved to an 'M' rating. My muse was feeling feisty and I'm both proud and scared to share with you my first publicly posted lemon.**

I have never been in love before. I love a lot of people, my family, my tight group of girlfriends. But, I've never met someone who rocked my world in unexpected ways or who took my breath away. Maybe someday I'll find them. Who knows? For now, I just write stories where other people get their happily-ever-after.

***My translator is still down so for now anything in (brackets) was still said in Celtic. I'll probably just keep it this way until the end of the story and go back afterwards at this point.**

* * *

><p>"Te Amo"<p>

Chapter Seven

**Pov- Shilo**

I was jerked from my sleep by a droning buzz. It took me a moment to orient myself. I'd fallen asleep in Julie's room again. We'd come here to watch a movie after Bobby looked us over and wound up back in her bed talking.

"It's your phone." Julie mumbled into her pillow and she scooted closer to me.

Our cell phones were on the counter in the kitchen. "It could be yours." I pointed out, keeping my eye shut tight and trying to drown out the buzzing sound. I really didn't want to get out of bed yet.

"Anyone trying to reach me at this hour would have called the room." She shot back. "They're probably calling your cell phone because you didn't answer your room phone."

I moved quickly from the bed, shivering at the cool air and padded into the kitchen. I grabbed my phone and flipped it open. "Morning," I said.

"She lives." Lester joked from the other end. "I was just about to send someone down to four, to pull your ass out of bed."

I rolled my eyes and stifled a yawn. "What's with the wakeup call?" I asked. "I specifically requested I not be woken up before-" I glanced at the clock. "Holy shit it's only 5:20am."

He chuckle. "Yep, rise and shine Whisky. PD just called the control room asking for you. They brought in one of the O'Donnell boys early this morning. They want you to come in and talk to him right away."

I rolled my eyes at the new name. "Whisky?" I asked.

"Yep, it's my favorite so far." he said. "I actually did some research this time. "Did you know Ireland makes all kinds of different whiskeys?" He asked. "My favorite brand, Bushmills, is Irish and I didn't even know it."

I rolled my eyes. "I had no idea, why does the name have to be a joke because I'm Irish? If you even think of calling me 'Lucky' after that damned cereal leprechaun I'll kill you slowly and enjoy every moment of it."

"I'm going to find a name for you." Lester vowed. "I always find the right one in the end. Go across the hall and get dressed fast."

I mentally groaned. Why did this stuff like this always seem to happen in the wee hours of the morning? Then I blushed realizing Lester had guessed right, that I'd been in Julie's room again.

"I'll be ready in five."

"I'll meet you in the garage." He said and then he hung up.

I went back into the bedroom and grabbed my pants off the floor. I pulled them on and exchanged the tank top Julie had given me, to sleep in, for my t-shirt.

"What's up?" She asked, looking at me sleepily from under the sheet.

I stuck my socks in my pocket and tugged my hair up into a ponytail. "That was Lester, TPD called for me. I've got to go in and talk to someone."

She sat up quickly and rubbed at her eyes. "They caught another Lynch?" She asked.

"Nope, one of the younger O'Donnell boys. One of Michael's cousins I'm guessing."

"Want me to come?" She asked.

I shook my head. "Naw, that's ok. Lester's going with me. Go back to sleep. Ranger will probably have me talk about it in the morning meeting again."

She nodded. "Ok."

I gathered my things from the kitchen and hurried across the room. I pulled on a fresh set of RangeMan clothes, brushed my teeth, made sure my gun was loaded, tucked a knife into my boot, and brushed out my hair. I popped two Advil, to take the edge off my neck, while I tied my shoes and then rushed out the door. I took the stairs to save time and slid into the garage with twenty seconds left over to spar.

Lester was waiting in the garage for me, with a muffin and a cup of coffee. "I freaking love you." I told him as I slid into the seat next to him and sipped at the warm coffee.

"Glad to hear it, but Julie might not like the competition."

I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Oh come on." He said, pulling out. "You care about her. I can tell you do."

I nodded along, but said nothing. I did care about Julie. Probably more then I should after only having known her for a few days. She was very different from anyone else I'd ever met.

When we got to TPD, Detective Morelli was waiting for us, slumped in a chair near the door. He needed a shave and looked like he'd been up all night. His eyes were closed, but he cracked one open when we stopped near him.

"You look beat." Lester said, offering him a hand up.

Morelli took his hand and let Lester help pull him to his feet. "Long day, this crap took off right at the end of my shift so I haven't slept yet."

"It always works out that way." Lester sympathized.

He waved us to follow him down the hall and stopped in his office. Lester stayed out in the hall. Morelli, shut the door behind himself and nodded to a chair near his desk. He dropped into his own chair, flipped open the file lying on the desk, and pushed a photo across the table to me.

"His name is Flynn O'Donnell. We caught him on Stark with one of our local dealers. When we brought him in he was found with a gun similar to the one's Michael had. We're checking now to see if it connects to the ones found in New York."

The man in the photo was probably early twenties, dark hair and green eyes. There was an old knife scar on his chin. The family resemblance to Michael was strong. I knew him. "I've seen him before."

"Where?" Morelli asked, sitting up a little straighter.

"The fight near the diner." I told him. "I told you there was a man walking with Michael before we lost sight of them. It was him."

"Was he part of the attack? Did he hurt you or Julie Manoso?"

I shook my head. "No, he must have been in the van with Michael. I don't remember seeing either of them once the fight started."

"Too bad," He said with a sigh. "We're holding him for the drug charge. We might get to add the gun charge, if his weapon matches the ones found in New York, but if we could add assault to the list it would help us prevent him from making bail."

"What about the flight risk, since he's related to Michael and he vanished." I asked. "That's got to count for something, no judge would give him the chance at bail. He's not even a citizen."

He nodded. "That's the argument were using right now, but every charge was can add will help our case."

I followed Detective Morelli down to the same interrogation room we'd used before. There was only one other officer in the observation room. Through the double-sided glass, I could see Flynn cuffed to the same table Gavin had been at yesterday.

"Has he seen the other man yet?" I asked.

"Nope," Morelli said, passing me an earpiece. "We were forced to release him last night due to a lack of evidence. I'll be on this end of the mic." He said tapping his own mic. "Sullen's busy so you're stuck with me. I'll feed you questions, but try to get anything you can on the gun ring. Ask him about Michael. See if he speaks English."

"What about the possibility of a kidnapping?" I asked.

He nodded. "If you can get more info on that, go for it. So far, we have nothing to support a kidnapping other then what you got out of that other guy yesterday."

Once I was wired, and my earpiece was safely in place, I walked over to the interrogation room. Another officer appeared and walked in with me, standing near the door. Flynn didn't look up as we came in, but he looked at me once I sat down in the chair across from him.

"Do you speak English?" I asked, not really expecting him to answer me even if he did.

He smirked. (I was wondering how long it would be before I got to meet you) He said. (Gavin told us, the local police had found an Irish traitor to speak for them.)

I ignored his traitor jab. (Where can we find Michael?)

He tisked at me a couple of times. (You should know better than that. Why would I tell you anything about my harebrained cousin?)

(Because the police are looking for him and now you're in trouble. Work with them and maybe they'll lighten your sentence.)

He shook his head. (I won't get much for a drug charge.) He said confidently. (Why don't you answer a few of my questions?)

I raised an eyebrow that he should continue. If he wasn't going to answer any of mine, maybe I could learn something from his questions. When he didn't say anything right away I said. "Go on."

"How do you get these people to talk to you?" Morelli asked in my ear. "I've never seen someone just walk into an interrogation room and start chatting up suspects like you do."

I smirked to myself and leaned back in my seat, waiting for Flynn to talk.

(You were in the alley) He said confidently. (You followed Mich and me.)

I nodded. (Your cousin is FTA. We were attempting to capture him.)

(Yes, you and the little girl with the bounty hunter father. You're lucky she's a good shot. Amos is known for strangling his victims.) He said, nodding to my neck. (You got off lucky.)

(Amos let go of me because I stabbed him.) I would have to ask Hector if he'd found an Amos Lynch in our searching last night.

He smirked. (He's not going to forgive you for that. You left a nasty scar on his face.)

(He disserved it.)

We were silent for a moment, each of us sizing up the other. Finally, Flynn leaned back in his seat, as much as he could and broke the silence. (Tell me about the pendant we took off you. Is it really yours? Do you know what it means?)

I felt my eye's narrow. This punk knew where my necklace was. I could feel my temper slip a notch and fought to keep my face blank of emotion. This man was a member of the same family who'd slaughtered mine. He was easily as old as I was, he'd been alive during the attack on my home. Did he know his father and grandfathers were mass murdering butchers? Would I be able to leap the table and slit his throat before the guard at the door could stopped me?

I shook my head slightly and forced the image away. I'd killed before, but I wasn't a murderer. besides, there were cameras in the room so I couldn't kill him without getting caught. A small part of my brain was also trying to remind me that this man could only have been ten or eleven at the time of the attack anyway. Personally, he'd done nothing to me. A child couldn't control who there family was.

He smirked at my inner struggle and my finger's twitched to hit him. He chuckled aloud at me then. (You had better pray my father never gets his hands on you if it is yours.) He said darkly. (He and my uncles drag us halfway around the world on a rumor that they would find, one lost little Connalay here, and they stumble across two in a matter of days. You can't imagine the look on his face when we gave him that blood stained crest you were wearing. It was like he'd seen a ghost.)

I was shell-shocked. I couldn't think of anything to say, and was sure I couldn't have used my mouth to speak even if I had. They'd come here looking for someone with the name Connalay. It wasn't possible. I was the only one left. I'd been tracking the ancestry of my family for years, every path came to a dead end, every path except for me.

(You didn't know?) Flynn asked, with another small chuckle. (Well then, this is even more interesting. Maybe you'll want to let my father catch you after all. He's crazy, but he might give you a small family reunion before he kills you.)

(Who?) I asked, my voice shaky.

"What is going on in there?" Morelli asked in my ear. "You look like you're going to be sick."

Flynn shrugged. (How should I know?) He asked with an eye-roll. (I don't give a rat's ass who you are. My father is the one who's obsessed with you. For all I care you and these police can go to hell.)

It had to be some kind of a mistake. They'd gotten some bad information and come over here hunting for riddles, then I'd given myself to them. They already had my necklace. They would find out my name from it that same way I'd found out Gavin's name. Michael and Flynn would have told them what I looked like. They would probably get more information out of Gavin, unless they'd already killed him.

But, that stupid little voice said again, what if they're not wrong? What if there was someone else? Maybe I'd missed someone in my research. Maybe I had a long lost cousin or something out there who was in danger?

I stood, embarrassed that my leg's shook, and let myself out of the room. Detective Morelli was there waiting a confused look on his face. I took a deep breath and forced myself to keep my face blank. I couldn't freak out until I knew more information.

"What happened?" He asked.

I followed him into the observation room and pulled off my ear piece and the wire. "He's a sick man." I said. "He wouldn't say anything about the guns." Which was sort of a lie since I hadn't really asked. "He refused to tell me where Michael is." That was the truth.

"What's got you so shaken?" He asked, pushing a chair in my direction. I sat, grateful for the chance to look away. I sat down and let out a shaky breath, forcing myself to calm down. Losing it here would be a bad idea.

"He was just talking about his father. They're planning on killing whoever this boy is they're after. He seemed almost excited at the prospect."

"Did he say anything else about whom they're after? We don't have anything to go on to try and stop the kidnapping from happening. We need a lead."

I shook my head. "No, and I don't think I'll get anything more from him. He doesn't want to deal, he didn't seem worried about the gun you'd taken from him and he wasn't afraid of going to jail for the drugs."

"Great." Morelli sat down hard. "So we've still got next to nothing."

I nodded. "Yep."

I stood then and let myself out. I took a few more moments in the hallway to clear my head before I went back out and found Lester. He was sitting in the lobby with a newspaper, and smiled when I neared him. "That was fast." He said.

I nodded. "Let's role."

Lester was quiet in the car and for that, I was grateful. It was only 6:50 when we pulled up so I'd have time to get my head on straight before I would have to speak in the morning meeting. I thanked Lester for going with me when we got to five and then nearly ran to my computer.

I pulled up all of the photo's we'd collected yesterday of the older O'Donnell men out in public. We had shots going back over the last week, both from surveillance cameras in restaurants and bar's to shots that different RangeMan had taken of them walking around town.

I started pulling up lists of employs and workers. I was running checks for anyone who'd been born in Ireland, anyone with Irish citizenship in their background. I was so involved in my work I nearly jumped out of my seat when someone tapped me on the shoulder.

"Oops, sorry Shilo."

It was Julie, her hair was wet and up in a ponytail. She was dressed in a fresh RangeMan outfit and had a muffin in her hand. "Meeting time." She said. "You ok?"

I quick cleared my screen and closed my laptop. "Yeah, I'm good. Long morning." I stood up, stole a bite of her muffin and followed her into the conference room. The usual gang was already there in the usually seats around the table. Blaze passed me some coffee, when I sat down, and then Ranger was speaking.

He'd had people searching all night, so far no connection had been made between any of the places the O'Donnell's had been seen. On top of it, it had been almost twelve hours since the O'Donnell's had been seen at all.

"We believe they are holding up in a house out at Point Pleasant." He said, stopping briefly to tell me that Point Pleasant was a beach nearby, rich community, lots of old houses. I knew the house he was talking about. We had pictures of it. It was an old brown three story, colonial with a privacy fence all the way around and a super security gate on the driveway. The only reason we couldn't get a warrant to search it was because we'd never actually seen Michael go inside of it.

"What did TPD want?" He asked, turning to me.

I nodded once, set my coffee aside and started talking. "As you all know by now TPD called me in this morning. They have a man in custody named Flynn O'Donnell. He's one of Michaels cousins. He didn't have as much to say as Gavin did. On a side note, they released Gavin last night."

I proceeded to tell them that Flynn had confirmed that the O'Donnell's had come to America with the intent to take someone. I told them they were after someone of Irish decent. I kept my possible relation to this person a secret.

I knew I should tell them. If they knew, more about what had happened between my family and the O'Donnell's they might be able to help me find this person before he got hurt. Maybe I had missed something. Years of keeping my identity a secret had me second-guessing myself and wondering just how far I could trust these people. After all, I had only known them for a short time.

Then there was the danger to myself. If the O'Donnell's truly did know my identity, and I was sure by now they did, how far would they go to get me? Would they come here? Was I putting my new friends in danger by staying here?

I let myself fall silent and kept my eyes trained on Ranger's nose as he asked a few more questions. I couldn't get myself to look him in the eye. I answered everything quickly and told them I'd already started cross referencing staff members with Celtic backgrounds.

"Good," He said. "We'll get a few more people on that, so it will go faster."

"We could send someone out to the locations too." Tank suggested. "Ask the staff directly."

Ranger nodded. "Good idea, take Blaze with you."

After the meeting broke up I started working with Stephanie and Hector again. Razor was sitting at our table of paper's looking over photo's, so he wouldn't have to sit in his room all day. I'd also requested that Ranger put one of his guys in charge of looking up info on the three O'Donnell brother's who were here. I wanted to figure out which one was Flynn's father so we could run a background check and look for a decline in mental health. Both Flynn and Gavin had mentioned the Older O'Donnell being a little bit crazy. I wanted to know if that was an exaggeration or a real illness.

We worked the morning away finding nothing new. I was rattled and stressed. I couldn't stop myself from wondering who this mystery man that the O'Donnell's were following was. Was it possible I still had some living family? My father had had four brothers. They were the only ones who would have passed on the family name to their children. Between them, my uncles had seven children who were older than me. Only four were boys. I ran over the names in my head, remembering all of the hunting I'd done which had proven all four of them were dead. I'd seen the death certificates.

Then again, the press that had followed the fire in my childhood home had said I was dead too. Col. Lowry had made sure all evidence of my survival had been whipped away. He'd changed my name and flown me out of the country. The hospital had only called him, in the first place, because they could find no next of kin. Maybe someone else had escaped a different attack and they didn't know I'd lived.

"Shilo?"

I jumped again and Julie placed a hand on my shoulder. "Are you ok?" She asked. "You've been really quiet all morning."

I nodded. "Just thinking."

"Is something wrong?" She asked. She peeked to make sure no one was watching before taking my hand.

I smiled at the connection. Her hand was warm and I hadn't realized until she touched me how cold I was.

"You're freezing." She said, taking my other hand and holding them between hers. "Something's bothering you I can tell." She said, her voice lowered so no one would overhear us.

I didn't say anything, just watched our hands as she rubbed mine to try and warm them up. I really didn't want to lie to her, but I really didn't want to tell her either. If my secret really was already blown, why was I fighting so hard not to tell anyone?

**Pov- Julie**

She sure was stubborn as hell, but I knew something was wrong. When I startled her for the second time, I knew it had to be something bad. I rubbed her cold fingers between my hands, trying to warm them up. A lot of the floor was clear, as the men all wondered off to find something to eat. Maybe this would be a good chance to try to get her to talk to me.

"Would you like to go eat lunch upstairs?" I asked.

She glanced up at me and I watched the fight in her eyes as she thought about what I'd said. After a moment, she nodded. "Yeah I would."

I sent Ella a text asking for lunch for two in my room. Shilo followed me upstairs, keeping close even after I'd let go of her hands. She watched the ground as we walked and worried her bottom lip with her teeth.

We got up to my room and she leaned against the counter to kick her shoes off. I stepped out of my own shoes and left then near the door. I wondered into the kitchen and grabbed a couple of water bottles from the fridge. When I turned around, she'd followed me into the kitchen, but she was still biting at her lip. I smirked to myself, thinking of other things she could be doing with those lips.

I moved closer to her and waited, until she looked up at me, to close the space between us. I kissed her, lightly at first; my intent was to get her to stop trying to eat her own lip. Then she pressed back, her mouth hard on mine as she pressed close. She didn't fight for control, her hands wrapped into the front of my shirt and she hung on.

I had her pined against the counter with my body, one of my hands on her hip the other had snaked around to her back. She gasped when we broke for air, the move pressed her chest into mine, and this time, I knew it wasn't the cold air that had her nipples standing out. I loved the fact that I affected her as much as she affected me.

When my lips left hers, I trailed them down the side of her neck. Her skin was warm and sweet and she shivered as I reached a particularly soft patch of skin behind her ear. I let my lips work their way to the other side and found the same spot. She arched into me a bit and one of my leg's slipped between hers. I smirked against her skin. I'd found a weak spot.

One of her hands tangled itself in my hair as I continued to nip and kiss at my newfound favorite body part. I sucked on the skin and she pulled on my hair, dragging my mouth back to hers. "Not nice," She panted against me.

I chuckled and she used the moment to flip us around. She backed me into the fridge and one of her hands curled back into my shirt as our tongues met again. I moaned against her, relishing in the sweet, unique, taste of her. She smelt even more amazing.

"What is that smell?" I asked her. Her lips were on my neck and I stuck my nose in her hair. She bit me and I jumped.

"What smell?" She asked huskily.

It took me a moment to collect my thoughts as one of her hands slipped under the edge of my shirt and trailed lightly across my stomach. "I think it's your shampoo." I said breathlessly. "You always smell amazing."

She grinned at me and pressed her lips against mine. "I could say the same about you." She said softly, sniffing at my neck. "You smell like flowers."

"Black orchids," I said, shivering as her fingers trailed to my sides. "It's my lotion. I have shampoo like it too." I admitted. I'd found the fragrance a few years ago and loved it.

She let me spin us around and I resumed my exploration of her collarbone. Her neck was long and slender, her light skin unmarked except for a small dusting of red/brown freckles. She had them along her cheekbones too. I made a promise to myself that one day I would count them. "You never answered me." I told her, letting my tongue dart out to touch the soft spot behind her ear. "What is it?" I asked again. "Your shampoo?"

She giggled against me, the vibrations running straight between my legs and warming my heart with the sound of her laughter. "Promise you won't laugh at me." She asked. I could tell from her voice that she was sincerely worried I would.

I pulled back to look at her and found her watching me. Her eyes had lightened to a soft jade color and her cheeks were flushed. She was the only person I knew whose eyes lightened with desire rather than darkened. "Promise"

She grinned again. "I import it from this shop in Ireland online." She said. "The first bottle was given to me as a joke, but I fell in love with it. I use the shampoo and the perfume. It's called Shamrocks."

I grinned and she playfully hit my side. "You promised not to laugh at me."

"Oh I'm not laughing." I told her, leaning forward to lick her neck and stick my nose in her hair. "I love it." The scent was light and clean. It did sort of reminded me of flowers, but mostly it brought up images of spring. It was perfect.

We were only a minute back into our make-out session when someone knocked on the door. We leapt apart, both breathing heavy. The door swung open and we managed to compose our faces in time for Ella to stroll in with a tray of food. She'd brought sandwiches and apples along with a pitcher of lemonade. We smiled and thanked her for the meal, neither one of us willing to look at the other until she'd left and the door clicked shut behind her.

Shilo chuckled. "That was close."

"Yeah, it was." I reached out and hook my hands around her waist; drawing her back to me. "One of these's times were going to get caught."

She leaned in and snuggled against my neck. "I don't mind." She said. "I'm out, I don't care what anyone here thinks about me. You're the one who has to live with them. I don't want you to do anything that will make things uncomfortable for you after I leave."

And there it was. The black and white truth that I'd been trying to ignore for the last three days. When this mess with the O'Donnell's was done, Shilo would leave. It was silly of me to think of her staying. She had a job, a home, a whole life back in New York. She was closer to her brother, Adam, in New York. She'd told me before how close she was to him.

A sick little ache started in my chest and I berated myself for letting her get this close to me. For letting myself ever fall for her in the first place. It wasn't like I hadn't known she would leave. My hands tightened around her waist and when she looked up, I kissed her again. Her mouth was soft against mine, gentle, she tasted sweet. I didn't regret getting this close to her, I couldn't. I never would have forgiven myself for missing out on this. Even if I only got to have her for a moment.

She pressed back, her hands explored down the sides of my body and stopped low on my hips. She kissed my neck when we broke for air and her soft lips traveled up to my ear. "I still own you that massage." She said. "Are you hungry?"

I shivered at the thought of her hands on my skin. "Not really." Not for the food Ella had brought up at least. She pulled back, weaving her fingers through mine and pulled me along behind her into the bedroom.

I let her lead, marveling in the warmth of this moment. I pushed everything else away. It didn't matter if she left next week, for right now, she was here with me. She led me over to the side of the bed and kissed me again. Her hands slipped under my shirt and gently lifted it up over my head. She tossed it aside and kissed me again, her fingers trailed down my stomach and she paused looking down where her fingers had stopped. "You are freaking ripped."

I laughed, proud of my little six-pack. "Lester and Blaze are my combat trainer's, what did you expect? They don't go easy on me."

Her eyes followed the line of my body back up, pausing on my black bra. I'd never had large breasts, and what I did have hadn't come in until my junior year of high school. With one of my wonder push-up bras, I could fake a medium sized bust. Without out it I was just a small 'B'. My moment of insecurity was chased away when she licked her lips.

When her eye's meet mine again, she grinned and spun me around. Her fingers trailed down my back, sweeping my hair out of her way. She tapped the clip of my bra. "This will be easier if you're not wearing this." She said.

"What to help me take it off?" I asked, riding the wave of confidence she'd given me.

I shivered as her lips attached themselves to the back of my neck. She nibbled the skin there and her fingers trailed up the length of my spin. "There are a lot of things I wouldn't mind helping you take off." She teased right back.

I bite my lip to keep back the images that had popped into my head. Don't move to fast, I ordered myself. You do not want to mess this up.

Her fingers unclipped my bra and she nudged the straps off my shoulders. I let the material fall away. She nudged me forward. "Lay down."

I crawled onto the bed, lying in the center. I heard material hit the ground, but forced myself not to look and see what she'd taken off. The bed dipped as she crawled up to me and then her bare legs straddled over my hips her skin warm against my sides. I groaned as she scooted up and her hands pressed into my shoulders.

She started with my shoulders and then let her finger's work their way down my back. Every now and then, I could tell she was following the lines of my tattoo. By the time she hit the bottom of my back I was a puddle of goo. I felt her scoot back and at first, I thought she was going to get off, now that she was done. Then her lips touched my back and I jumped, my gasp of shock quickly turning into a soft moan as her tongue flicked out.

She chuckled and I felt her lip's ghost over my back again. "You're not the only one with an ink fetish." She said her voice low and sweet. "I can see why you wanted to lick my stars. This tiger is driving me crazy. He's perfect." Her lips touched my back again and she trailed them all the way up my spine. I wiggled under her; the heat between my legs urging to be itched.

"Why do you think that?" I asked, turning my head as far as I could to try and see her face.

She trailed a finger lightly down my back, all the way to the band of my cargo's low on my hips. "He's beautiful for a start." She said. "You're very beautiful Julie."

I blushed, thinking I should probably say something back.

"The tiger is a very powerful symbol." She continued before I found my voice. "In several different cultures the tiger represents the combination of grace and strength. He is fiercely loyal without having to be overly aggressive. He is wild, exotic, and un-tamed."

I nodded along, that was why I had picked a tiger in the first place. I'd hoped that by getting the tattoo on my body I might someday have those same traits myself. It was kind of a silly idea, but maybe it had worked after all.

I was touched by her honest words, and at a loss of how to tell her what they meant to me. Her hands were at my sides and I grabbed one of her wrists, deciding to show her rather then tell her. I'd always been better with actions then words, another trait I'd picked up from my Ranger genes I guess. I pulled her forward and she fell onto the bed next to me with a soft thump and a giggle. I rolled her onto her back and kissed her senseless.

She responded quickly. Her arms wrapped around my back, her fingers trailing along my spine as we kissed. Our tongues battled for control and she let me have it again. I trailed kisses down her neck and hit that sweet spot behind her ear again. She moaned, her back arching up into me a bit. "Thank you." I said honestly, letting my breath blow over her neck. "No one's ever said something like that to me before."

She tugged on my hair until I backed up far enough that she could look me in the eye. "It's all true." She said. "Every word, always know how special you are Julie."

I blushed and she leaned forward to kiss my cheek. "I love when you do that." She said. "Your skin turns a really beautiful color." She shifted then, nudging me so I rolled over onto my back. She straddled my hips; her fingers running down the sides of my body as for the first time I remembered she could see my bare chest.

She leaned forward and kissed me. The kiss was light and questioning. She shifted and I groaned as her bare legs brushed over my hips, catching sight of the lime-green panties she was wearing. She kissed a light trail down my neck and stopped at the swell of my breast. I whimpered at the loss of contact as she pulled back just a hair. "This is your chance to tell me to stop." She said her breath warm on my already heated skin. "We don't have to go any farther if you don't want to."

I hesitated, just for a moment. I wanted her, I'd known from the moment I saw her picture that I'd wanted her. How badly would it hurt after she left? Her soft nose ran up my neck and I felt her shy away from me a bit. "Julie?" She asked.

To hell with it! I wrapped one hand in her thick hair and tugged her up to me for our most searing kiss yet. I'd deal with any amount of pain later, if it meant that for this one moment I got to have her all to myself.

**Pov- Shilo**

I knew I shouldn't do it, knew I should stop now while I still had the chance to protect myself. Her hand in my hair tightened its hold on me, like she'd sensed my hesitation. I kissed her hard, hoping she would get everything I was feeling out of the kiss. Hoped she would be able to tell that I'd fallen for her without meaning to. She kissed me back just as desperately, so I had high hope.

I knew that my earlier mention of leaving had hurt her, whether or not she knew it yet herself, I didn't know. I almost hoped she hadn't realized her feelings for me. The separation would only be more painful if she had and there was no longer any doubt of my leaving. I had no choice. The brief thoughts I'd had earlier in the week about asking for a transfer had flown out the window with my identity being compromised.

Julie shifted so I was nestled between her legs, her lips still on mine as my hands wondered over her torso. She nudged me with a knee and rolled us over. Once I was on my back, her hands moved under my shirt and I lifted my shoulders to help her get it off. She tossed the material away and her eyes locked on my bright green bra.

"You know for someone who was so worried I'd laugh at your cliché choice of perfume, you really don't seem to mind dressing in green, my little Irish fire."

I grinned at her. "I'm not a leprechaun but, it's always been my favorite color."

"It looks great on you." She said. "It matches your eyes."

Her hands slipped under my back and then the bra was gone followed shortly by her cargos and the rest of our clothes. I writhed under her mouth as she latched onto one of my breast her teeth grazing the sensitive skin. Her mouth continued its torture as she moved to the other one, her fingers replacing her mouth as she teased and pulled on the hardened peaks.

I sighed under her lips as she explored every part of my body. The heat felt so good it almost hurt as wetness pooled between my legs. She stopped when she reached the curls between my legs and I groaned, frustrated, missing the feel of her.

"You know," She said softly and I looked down, locking eyes with her as she stared back up at me with a sexy little grin on her face. "For some reason, I didn't think this hair would be red too."

A little chuckle fell from my lips and I bucked my hips when one of her fingers trailed along my slick folds. "What can I say," I said breathlessly, desperately wanting her to touch me again. "I've never died my hair before so the curtains definitely match the rug."

I felt her smirk as she kissed my dark red curls and an airy moan left my lips as her tongue flicked out to taste me for the first time. "Usted esta tan humeda." (You are so wet) She said softly. I didn't know what it meant, but it sounded sweet and dirty coming from her lips.

She tossed one tanned arm over my pale hips to help keep me still while a familiar heat curled in the depths of my body. I was coming off a dry period so I didn't think I'd last long. The slow burn was growing, making all of my nerves sing out as they anticipated the take off that was building. She added a couple of finger's to the mix, pumping them in and out to the beat of her tongue on my clit. She bit down gently and I lost it, flying over the edge, her name a breathless cry on my lips.

She gave me time to bask in the afterglow of my orgasm, working her way slowly back up my body, leaving sweet little kisses behind. When she reached my neck, I pulled her to me, moaning at the taste of my wetness on her lips. I felt the heat start to build again and bit down gently on her lip to prove I was ready to resume our play.

This time I took the lead. I pushed her over, hovering over her body and explored every nook and cranny on her like she'd done to me. I paid special attention to each of her perfectly round breasts savoring every moan and cry from her lips. I'd always been fairly quiet in the throes of passion, but I couldn't get over how much I loved all of the sounds she made.

"Ta tu Álainn" I told her, latching onto the skin where her neck met her shoulder and sucking hard enough to leave a mark behind. She ran a soft finger along my cheek so I would look up at her.

"What does that mean?" She asked. Her brown eyes, black with lust and her skin flushed.

I kissed her gently. "Álainn means beautiful. You are very beautiful Julie."

She smiled and I used the moment of distraction to slid one finger into her wet heat. She jumped, her gasp of shock turning into a moan as I curled my finger and added a second. I loved how wet and ready she was for me.

"Dios Shilo." She hissed as I trailed kisses down her front, while I worked my fingers, and moaned at the sight of her bare sex in front of me. I'd never been brave enough to wax there, but it was hell of sexy on her. I might have to try it some time.

When my mouth finally joined my fingers between her strong legs, I stroked her once with my tongue and bit down on the sensitive nub there. She cried my name as she came apart hard and I was rewarded with a fresh wave of wetness. I smirked at having brought her over so quickly and didn't give her a chance to come down before I started all over again. I wanted to hear her call my name again. I wanted her to scream it.

I added a third finger, curling them to hit that soft spot inside of her on each pass. It only took a moment to work her back up and send her spiraling over the edge again. Her cry was even louder the second time and I melted when she whispered my name on a breathless moan.

She was breathing heavily so I took my time climbing back up her perfectly toned body, leaving my own trail of tinny kisses behind and laving at the mark I'd left on her neck. It wouldn't last forever, but I hoped that for a few day's at least it would remind her that I loved her, and that I'd miss her.

This moment with her had been everything I had hoped for. It had also made it painfully clear that I couldn't stay any longer. I didn't know how long I had before the O'Donnell's came looking for me, but I knew they would. I couldn't be here when it happened. I wouldn't risk putting Julie or the guys in danger.

Julie pulled me up to her lips and kissed me gently. I tucked myself into her side and we basked together in the sweetness of the moment. I had my nose in her hair, enjoying her scent, while she trailed a finger lightly over my thigh, which was lying across her hips, drawing pictures on my skin.

Our peace was interrupted by the shrill tone of Julie's room phone and I think we both whimpered from the loss of contact as she stood up to get it. She grabbed a robe off the hook on her bathroom door and jogged into the living room.

I stayed on the bed and pulled the sheet up over my body so I could enjoy the last few moments of this comfort before it was ruined. I closed my eyes and inhaled her scent, praying that I might one day get to come back and make it up to her. I heard Julie answer the phone and some soft words while she spoke to whoever had called. I couldn't make them all out.

She came back into the room and gave me a sad little smile before tossing me my bra. "We have to go downstairs. Steph and the boy's think they've found something."

I grabbed my bra and we dressed quickly. I used Julie's brush to tame my hair and then pulled it back into a ponytail. We both wolfed down one of the sandwiches Ella had brought us and gulped some of her lemonade.

"You're a liar." I told her as we tucked our guns away, tied our shoes, and grabbed our phones. "Ella's lemonade was way better then that stuff at the dinner."

She chuckled. "Everything Ella makes is wonderful." She agreed. "I meant that the dinner lemonade was the best in Trenton, outside of Ella."

When we got to Five the floor was abuzz with excitement and movement as everyone worked. Blaze saw us get off the elevator and rushed over to meet us. "You were right Shilo, we found a connection between some of the different bars and restaurants the O'Donnell's have been visiting. Come on, we're setting up the photos in the conference room to show everyone."

We followed him down the hall and into the meeting room we'd been using all week. Hector was all set up on one end. His laptop hooked into a screen hanging on the wall so everyone could see the photo's he was pulling up.

There were four different pictures all labeled with different dates and times. Julie took a seat at the table. I stood behind her against the wall, not wanting to sit down. My stomach was in knot that we might be about to figure out who the O'Donnell's were after.

Ranger raised a hand, for silence, once everyone was gathered, and waved to Stephanie, who was standing near Hector. "What did you guys find?" He asked.

Steph smiled and nodded at Hector who blew up the first image. "Hector and I have found a similarity between four of the different locations that the older O'Donnell brother's have been seen at so far."

She pointed to the first photo. The shot was clearly supposed to be focused on the men sitting there, but Stephanie pointed to the stage behind them. It was a blurry shot but I could make out five different men in the group all playing instruments.

"The band," Stephanie said. Hector changed pictures. The second shot was wider and showed most of a bar floor. In the background, the same group of men could be seen playing on another stage. "It's the same group, we're almost positive."

She showed us two more photos, in each of them, the same group of men were playing in the background.

"We think he's following a band?" Hal asked. "Why?"

"Big fan?" Lester joked.

"It's the only connection we've found so far." Stephanie said. "We should send someone out to these locations to see if we can get contact information for them. Figure out who these men are."

I studied the four shot's as Hector zoomed back out so we could see them all at once and felt my mouth go dry. In all four shot's you could see your standard band instruments. They had a guitar, a bass, a keyboard. In a couple of the shot's you could see an upright bass, some drums, and a small lap harp. That wasn't what had caught my attention. In three of the four photos, the same man was sitting on a bar stool with a flute to his lips.

"Hector," I called, moving forward so I could point to the man I wanted to see. "Can you zoom in on one of these? I want to get a good look at his face." I pointed him out in the three shots of him with the flute so Hector could pick which one would be the easiest to clear up.

"The one playing the recorder?" Lester asked. "Why him?"

I shook my head. "It's not a recorder." I told him positively. It was too thin to be a recorder. "It's a penny whistle." I should know, I used to play one.

"What's that?" He asked, while Hector worked on his computer.

"It's a type of flute." I told them, the room had gone quiet while they all waited to see why I'd asked to see this particular man. "It's also sometimes called a tin whistle." I continued. "It' very common in Celtic music. It's definitely not something you'd seen in your everyday American bar band."

"You think he might be the target?" Tank asked.

Hector pulled up one of the shots and after a few more clicks the image cleared enough that we could see his face clearly. It was a face I'd have recognized anywhere, even though it had been fifteen years since I'd last seen him. He looked just like our father.

"Shilo?"

Julie had moved to my side and I was grateful to her because I never would have made it to my seat without her. My legs had gone numb and my fingers were cold. I hadn't even realized I couldn't breathe until Bobby put his hand on the back of my neck and forced my head down between my legs. My lungs burned as I gasped for more oxygen.

"Breath Shilo," He encouraged me gently. "What is going on?"

I took several deep breathes to chase away the panic attack and once I was sure I could sit up, without throwing up, I looked back at the photo. There wasn't a single doubt in my mind. It had to be him. "Ryan?" I whispered.

"Ryan?" Ranger asked. He'd moved from his seat to stand next to us. "You know this boy?"

"Wait," Julie said, the look of confusion on her face turning to realization. She was the only one I'd told about my brother's, she must have recognized the name from my story. "Is that even possible?"

I shook my head. It shouldn't be possible, it couldn't be possible. Ranger was talking again, asking me questions. I couldn't concentrate enough to understand what he was saying. My thoughts all revolving around the brother I'd been raised to believe was dead.

He'd lied to me! I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and dialed a number I hadn't used since I'd moved to New York. I knew the room around me had gone quiet as everyone watched me. I could feel Julie at my side, her hand on my leg as she called my name. I had to ask, had to know if it was possible. Why would he have hid this from me.

"Hello?" A voice said when the line was picked up. "Lowry residence."

My confusion turned to white hot rage as the voice I'd come to trust spoke. Col. Lowry had taken me in as a child, he'd raised me as his own. I'd trusted him with my secret, with my life! He was the one who had told me that Ryan had died in the fire. He was the one who'd helped me plan a memorial service so I could get some closure for the loss of my family. He'd been lying to me all of this time!

I took in a raspy sort of breath and spoke. "You lying son of a bitch." There was so much menace in the voice that left my mouth, I wouldn't have recognized it as my own hearing it played back. My free hand clenched so tight that my nails cut into my palm and I seethed.

"Shilo?" He asked, confusion in his voice. "Is that you?"

* * *

><p>~Darkrose<p>

Question 5- Have you ever posted a smut scene?

Sorry for the short length of the last chapter. I couldn't find a good place to split it from this chapter and I definitely wanted this chapter posted as a whole. I'll have more soon, let me know what you think, your reviews make me smile and brighten my day.


	8. Chapter 8

Clearly I've posted a smut scene on FF since it was in the last chapter, so instead here's a funny saying I heard one of my friends say recently. I hope it makes you laugh as much as it did me.

"You know that feeling, when you walk into a room and forget why you were going there? That's God playing Sim's and he just canceled your action."

Lol, Enjoy.

* * *

><p>"Te Amo"<p>

Chapter Eight

**Pov- Julie**

The room had gone quite when Shilo pulled out her phone. Ranger watched her punch in numbers, probably ticked that she was ignoring his questions. She had the strangest look on her face, like she'd just realized everything she knew in life was a lie.

I knew where her thoughts were going. She'd called the boy in the photo's, Ryan. She had to believe he was the older brother she'd lost so many years ago. He was dead; she had to be mistaken. I glanced up at the screen and wondered. I could sort of see a family resemblance between the two, but with the black and white photo I couldn't tell what color his eyes or hair were to see if they matched the photo she had shown me of her family earlier.

I was sitting right next to her side so I heard someone speak on the other end of the line even thought I couldn't make out the muffled words. I looked at her face just in time to see the change. Confusion and wonder turned to anger as her eyes narrowed. Shilo had hit full blow rhino mode in five seconds flat. "You lying son of a bitch." She said, her normally calm voice laced with venom.

"Shilo?" I put my hand on her arm and her eyes snapped to me.

I could see blood on her free hand so I grabbed it next, pressing my fingers gently into hers to get her to loosen her grip. She hissed when her hand relaxed, but kept her eyes locked on my face. I felt her shiver and her hand loosened on the phone, still pressed to her ear. I took it from her and put it on the table.

I watched her eyes flick to the screen and then back to me. "Are you sure?" I asked.

She nodded and I watched her face crumble. Tears pooled at the corners of her eyes and she shot a desperate look around the room before catching my eye again. I grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet. "Come on."

Ranger had picked up her cell phone and was talking quietly with whomever she had called. I ignored him when he told us to wait and dragged her out into the hall behind me. She wouldn't want to lose it in front of everyone, if that's where she was headed. Her fingers were cold in mine and I could still feel her shaking with anger.

I pulled her behind me into another, smaller meeting room a few doors down. Ranger usually used this room when he was holding small meetings with clients. The room was neat and open with a long row of window's facing the street outside.

I pushed her down into one of the chairs and pulled another one over so I could sit in front of her. She never let go of my hand. I grabbed some tissues from the table and took her bleeding hand, wrapping it up as gently as I could. She sat there silently and watched me worked, lost in thought.

When I was done with her hand, I watched her until she looked up at me.

"Is it possible?" I asked.

She shrugged. "I don't know." Her voice was barely more than a whisper and it killed me to see how lost she looked in that moment. In her time here, I'd seen Shilo be brave, cocky, remorseful, head strong and go toe to toe with the guys here like she owned the world. In our time alone, I'd seen her open up a little more and share moments of pain, anger, and sorrow with me. I'd never seen her look lost before.

"Shilo, you said Ryan died years ago." I reminded her as gently as I could. "What makes you think that man could be him?"

She shook her head her eyes locked with mine. "It was him." She said confidently.

"You can't be positive."

"He looks just like our father used to. He's the right age, Ryan would have turned 29 a couple of months ago. Ryan knew how to play the penny whistle." She said and I could see the hope in her eyes. She wanted it to be him. "He was really good at it." She continued, her voice trailing off.

"Shilo, who was that on the phone?"

Her eyes flashed again and she nearly snarled the name. "Col. Lowry."

"Why him?" I asked.

She shook again, the hand I was still holding clenched into a fist. "He was the one who told me that Ryan had died." She said. "Col. Lowry was the only person left the hospital could find to contact after the accident. If we'd both survived he would have been told. He had to have known. He did something, he split us up!"

The door swung open and Ranger and Bobby came in. Bobby moved to our side and took her bleeding hand from me. Ranger looked us over and handed Shilo her phone back. "We're sending teams out to look for the boy in the pictures." He told her. "Don't get your hopes up. Go downstairs; work it off. Don't come back up until you're ready to work." Then he left.

Bobby put some antiseptic on her hand and wrapped it in an ace bandage, but there wasn't much else he could do. Once they left us alone, I took her good hand and pulled her up to her feet again.

"Where are we going?" She asked, as I lead her into the hall.

I pulled her over to the stair well door so we wouldn't have to walk though all of the men on five. "The gym." Shilo wasn't crying anymore, but I knew she was just barely holding it together. When I needed to think I went to the gym and ran. Ranger always sent guys to the gym if they got worked up or agitated on a takedown.

Shilo didn't say anything else as I buzzed us into the gym. The room was mostly empty and I was glad. I pulled her to the center of the mats and tossed her one of the fencing bibs we had. She caught it and look at me.

"You don't fence." She said.

I shrugged and grabbed a pair of swords. "You do." I returned. "You're the one who needs to work off some stress and calm down." With the memory of our time together upstairs so fresh in my mind, I could think of other, more enjoyable, ways to relive stress, but Ranger had told her to go to the gym. He'd check to make sure she had.

We pulled on the gear and she took one of the Rapiers, checking the weight in her hand and stretching to warm up. I did my own set of stretches trying to remember everything Razor had taught me about fencing. Hopefully I could keep up enough to push her.

Once we were ready, we faced each other, bowed, and then I lunged. Maybe an aggressive offence would cover the fact that I had almost no defense. She blocked every one of my hits, spun away from me and tagged me in the side before I could twist to counter. She'd hadn't been kidding when she said she could fence.

I kept up my attack. She got in a dozen more hits while we moved. Had this been a real fight I would have died almost immediately. I liked my gun. I was able to keep her moving and, hopefully keeping her distracted from what had happened upstairs. She met me swing for swing, for over two hours, until my arm was jell-o and I could barely hold the rapier up anymore. She was coated in a fine sheen of sweat, but she looked fine.

"Julie,"

I glanced over my shoulder and found Razor watching us from the sidelines. He'd pulled on a sleeveless bib and was holding another sword in his good hand, his sling still hung across his chest.

"Are you crazy?" I asked. "You haven't been cleared for the gym."

He moved onto the mats and swung the rapier around in his hands. "I'm left-handed," He said, motioning to his bandaged right arm. "I'll be fine. Your not pushing her hard enough."

He took my place and I reluctantly moved off the mats. Shilo didn't raise her sword when he bowed. "Razor I don't want to hurt your arm." She said.

"You're good." He said, and I wondered how long he'd been watching us. "This is going to be fun."

He lunged and she spun away from him. They danced across the mats, Razor swinging and Shilo dodging without raising her sword to block him.

"Fight back." He called, swinging again. He blocked her exit and swung again.

She had no choice. It was swing or get hit. She blocked his hit and they started moving back across the mats. They matched each other blow for blow, the sounds of their swords meeting rang around the gym.

"What are you doing Razor?" She asked, once they'd parted.

"What's it look like I'm doing?" He asked, spinning his sword again, taunting her. "I'm kicking your ass."

They parried again, both of them swinging harder now that Razor had thrown the gauntlet down. Razor swung for her legs, Shilo dodged and tagged him in the ribs below his cast. "You can try." She taunted back.

They continued to fight back and forth and I could tell from the sweat soaking her shirt that Razor was pushing her harder then I had.

"What's got you so wound up?" Razor asked, as they parted after an intense set of moves.

Shilo shook her head and swung at him again. "None of your business."

"Talk to me." He said, swinging back and tagging her in the arm. "Everyone can tell that you're freaking out." He continued. "You knew the boy in the photo's upstairs. Who's Ryan?"

They continued moving, pushing each other across the room. Razor's defense was off without his other arm, but Shilo made sure to avoid hitting his sling. After another ten minutes, they'd fallen into a rhythm of swings and blocks. I was going to have to ask Razor for more fencing lessons. Watching the two of them move like this was amazing.

"He's my brother." Shilo finally said once they'd parted again. She was breathing heavy and her sword arm shook with fatigue.

"One of Col. Lowry's boys?" Razor asked.

She shook her head slowly, leaning on her sword for balance as she caught her breath. "No, my birth brother."

"Your file said you didn't have any family." He said.

"I don't." The lost and confused look was back on her face and it took all of the strength I had not to rush across the mats and hold her.

"Then what the hell are you talking about?" Razor pushed, picking up his sword and advancing on her again.

Shilo had her sword up before I could blink and they were back at it. Razor kept up his offence, forcing her to work for each step she took and breaking down the walls I'd been trying to get under all week.

"He died." She said, leaping away from a swing that would have hit her in the shoulder. "A long time ago, we were just kids."

"Then that can't be him."

"It was." She pushed. "I know it was."

Razor lowered his sword, but kept it tight in his hand. "You don't have a lot of friends do you?" He asked.

Shilo's eyes cut to his face and narrowed. "What does that have to do with this?"

"You don't trust us."

"I trust very few people." She agreed.

"You've got to tell us what's going on." He pushed. "We can't help you if you don't talk to us."

"I don't need your help!" She said sharply.

Razor moved fast, he swung his blade up smacked her in the wrist and then swept her feet out from under her. Shilo landed hard on her back. She'd dropped her sword and curst as Razor moved over her, and placed the flat of his blade to her neck. "Obviously you do."

Shilo laid there, eyes closed, while they both worked on controlling their breathing. When she opened her eyes, a single tear ran down her cheek and her voice trembled slightly as she spoke. "He lied to me. I know that was Ryan in the photos. We have to find him before the O'Donnell's do because they'll kill him."

"Why?" He asked. "How do you know the O'Donnell's."

My strength broke. I crossed the mats quickly and pushed Razor back a step, kneeling down next to her. I touched her arm and her eyes flickered to me. She took my hand in hers, weaving her fingers through mine and holding on tight.

"I don't know." She admitted, looking back to Razor. "I don't know what they want, I never did. All I do know is that I grew up afraid of the name O'Donnell. They hunted us down, slaughter us like animals anyway they could. I thought I was the only one who got away from them."

Her eyes cut back to me then. "That's why Col. Lowry took me in." She admitted softly. "He was my father's friend. He adopted me, changed my name, and hid me here in the states to protect me. He knew that if they ever found out I survived the fire they would track me down and kill me too. Now they've found Ryan and if we don't beat them to him, they'll kill him."

Another tear rolled down her cheek. Razor and I both just stood there, shocked. I tried to find my voice, but wasn't sure what I'd say anyway. Why hadn't she told me any of this? The doors to the gym swung open and we all jumped.

I glanced over my shoulder and found Tank watching us, arms crossed, frown on his face. I'd never been intimidated by Tank before. I'd known him since I was little. I could remember seeing him when I was seven and I'd come to Trenton to visit my Abuela Rosa with Ranger. Right now, he looked pissed.

Tank's eyes dropped to Shilo and I looked at her too. Her face had gone blank again except for the anger in her eyes and the tension in her body. She squeezed my hand and then she let go of me, pushing herself to her feet and taking a step away from us.

"What's up Boss?" Razor asked.

Tank nodded towards the door. "Ranger wants to see you all on five, now."

**Pov-Shilo**

Tank stood by the door watching us while we hung up the fencing gear and hurried to gather our things. Julie kept shooting me looks, but I couldn't get myself to meet her eye. I should have told her sooner. I'd seen the hurt in her eyes when she taken my hand. I'd told her I'd trusted her, but I hadn't told her the truth.

Tank waited until we walked out of the gym and followed behind us up the stairs. Felt like an escort to a hanging to me. I knew there were cameras in the gym. Could they be wired for sound too? Maybe the control room had heard my confession. I caught sight of a clock on the wall, maybe he was just mad we'd been down stairs for over four hours.

We entered five and walked out onto the main work floor and I stopped so fast that Julie ran into my back. Ranger was standing at the other end of the room, file in hand, talking with Col. Lowey. What was he doing here? When had he gotten here?

Razor moved around my side and nudged me. "What's up?" He asked following my gaze to the men at the end of the room.

I felt my eye's narrow and my jaw clench as he looked over at us. "You son of a bitch!" I lunged forward. Not sure what I was going to do, but in that moment I just wanted to get my hands on him.

Razor knocked me off balance before I'd gone more then a few feet and before I could resume my charge Julie had her arms locked around my chest, pinning my arms to my side, holding on tight.

"Let go of me." I demanded, struggling against her hold. My eyes locked on the two men at the end of the room. I wanted to hit him.

"Shilo?"

Col. Lowry started walking towards us. I continued trying to escape the lock-hold Julie had on me, but I couldn't think of a move to free myself that didn't evolve breaking bones. I stopped struggling, but she didn't relax her hold. The whole floor was watching us after my outburst.

Col. Lowry stopped a few yards short of us. "Shilo, please stop this." He said. "Let me explain."

"Explain what!" I demanded, nearly vibrating with anger. "What did you do? You lied to me. You took him away from me. He's still alive!"

"Yes," He said softly and I was so floored at his response I felt part of my anger fizzle out. It really was true, Ryan was alive. "I lied to you." He continued. He motioned to the file Ranger was holding and Ranger pulled out the close up Hector had gotten of Ryan's face. "I think your right, that this is Ryan." He said. "This boy looks just like your father."

"Why?" I asked. "Why did you keep him from me? You told me he was dead."

"You had to believe that." He said. "Just as he believes that you were lost in the fire."

My blood boiled again. He had known all along. Not only had he known, but he'd told Ryan I'd died as well. I hadn't lost my temper like this since I was seventeen.

"What?" I asked, my voice dark. "You told him I died. He saved my life! All this time you knew he was alive. You had no right to take him away from me."

"It was safer for both of you this way." He said. "I made sure that Ryan was sent to a good home. They changed his last name. He was safe, you were both safer apart."

I lunged forward again and Julie proved to everyone she was stronger than I was. She had both of my arm's pulled tight behind my back and even as I managed to pull her a step forward she muscled us back two more.

"Shilo stop." She said gently, her lips near my ear. "Come on please."

"No," I shouted. "Let me go. This is all his fault." I returned my glare to Col. Lowry. "How can you say he was safer off without me? We could have protected each other. Now they know where he is. You know they'll kill him if they get their hands on him."

"I only did what I thought was best for all of you." He said honestly. "You father entrusted me with the safety of his children if anything happened to him. When he passed away I promised your mother I would look out for you."

"How did you keep him safe?" I asked hysterically. "You sent him off, alone, to live with strangers! I bet they didn't even teach him how to protect himself. He's defenseless, alone, and unaware that he's being hunted!"

"Ryan was older then you. He knew too much. It was too big of a risk that the two of you would run off and get yourselves killed if he had staid. He was too old to forget what had happened. I always hoped you would."

I struggled against Julie again. "Forget! They took everything from us. I watched that house burn to the ground with my mother and grandmother inside of it, or were you lying to me then too. Did anyone else get out? How many member's of my family are you _protecting_! Who else are you hiding from me!"

He shook his head sadly. "No, your mother and grandmother were both found dead in the house. You know that. We had a funeral."

"We had a funeral for Ryan too." I reminded him bitterly. "You let me bury him, knowing he was still alive. There's a god damned head stone with his name on it!"

"Enough."

Ranger's voice cut through our fighting. He moved forward, a hard edge to his eyes as he looked me over. "You've been lying to us." He said. "You withheld information on our case. You've put my men and my family in danger."

"I didn't hide anything that would have helped you." I argued back. "My family history with the O'Donnell's has nothing to do with you finding Michael."

He shook his head. "That's beside the point. You knew that if you were discovered here you'd be putting my team in danger. You should have told us the risk of having you in the field near any of the O'Donnell's before you offered to help us."

"She was telling me and Julie downstairs." Razor cut in carefully. He looked over at me. "Right, that's what you were telling us before Tank got there."

I nodded. "Yeah,"

"Too late," Ranger continued. "Your identity has been compromised and you know it."

"What?" This was Col. Lowry. "You told me that Ryan had been discovered. No one mentioned they knew about Shilo too. They'll kill her."

Julie's hold on me tightened. "How'd they find her here?" She asked.

"Same way she found out about Lynch." He narrowed his eyes at me. "Did the O'Donnell boy you talked to this morning say anything about your necklace? I bet they found it, didn't they? Did they know what it was?"

When I hesitated, he added. "Do not lie to me again." in a dark voice.

I nodded. "Yes, they found it. The older O'Donnell's recognized it. They know who I am. They've talked to Gavin too so they'll know where to find me. I'm sorry."

"We need to leave." Col. Lowry said quickly, stepping closer to me. "I have some contacts, we'll get you put in a safe house, change your name again. I won't let them get near you." He promised.

I snarled and threw my weight against Julie's arms again. I wasn't going to hit him, I was going to kick the shit out of him. "I'm not going anywhere with you." I hissed. "You already abandoned him once. I'm staying here. We need to find Ryan before they kill him."

"No"

My eyes cut to Ranger. "What!" I asked, surly I'd miss heard him.

"I said No." He repeated slowly. "You're leaving, today."

"What?" The anger left my body and I pleaded. "You can't send me away Ranger. I have to help find him, please. I can help you."

He shook his head. "No, I can't trust you any longer. My team can't trust you. You're a liability to us now and I won't let you use my company and my men to seek out your personal revenge. Our jet will be waiting to take you back to New York in an hour. Leave your uniforms in your room. Where you go from there is your own business, but you will stay out of Trenton."

Julie's arms around me loosened to more of a hug then a tight hold, but I didn't fight to get away from her. This couldn't be happening. I glanced around the room and for the first time noticed the faces of the men watching us. Lester looked at me like I'd betrayed him. Bobby just looked pissed off and, at a nod from Ranger, he came over and took Julie's arm pulling her away from me.

"Hold on a second." Julie said, shaking his hold off and stepping closer to me again. "We can't send her away, he's her brother. She should help us look for him. She didn't mean any harm Ranger."

"No," Ranger said sharply, his gaze falling on the hand Julie had put out to touch me with. "She will stay away from my team."

_Translation_- Stay away from my daughter. I wasn't sure if Julie had found the time to talk to Ranger about us yet, but from the look on his face I was willing to bet everything I owned that he wouldn't approve of me ever being in the same state as her after this.

"Niña come on." Bobby pressed, reaching for her again.

Julie backed away from him. "No," She looked at Ranger. "She was about to tell us downstairs, there was no way for her to have known when she got here that our case would tie into what happened to her family all of those years ago. Not a single person in this room can claim not to have secrets."

"She never should have come in the first place." Ranger shot back. "Her history with the O'Donnell's makes it too dangerous for her to continue in the field. If they had recognized her sooner they could have tried to kill her at Wild Horse or in the ally. They might still come here looking for her. You could have been killed in the cross fire, any of us could have."

Julie opened her mouth to argue back, but I couldn't let her. She was willing to upset her relationship with these guys, with her family, for me. I wouldn't let her ruin those ties for me. "Julie stop."

She looked over at me. Her brown eyes cut to my heart like they always did and at the angle I could just make out the edge of the mark I'd left on her neck a few hours ago. "He's right." I continued. "I shouldn't have come here."

"Yes you should have." She argued back. "If you hadn't come here, we wouldn't have gotten anything out of the two men we've caught. You wouldn't have learned the truth about Ryan."

"No," I cut her off, raising my voice slightly. "I came here, hoping that during the course of your investigation I'd get the chance to learn why they'd attacked my family in the first place. I knew the O'Donnell's were dangerous and I kept silent." Maybe if she was mad at me she wouldn't get as hurt by my leaving. "I lied to you." I continued. "I put you in danger. I had plenty of opportunities to tell you the truth about how my family died and I didn't do it."

She turned to face me head on, hands on her hips. "That's bullshit and you know it. I bet you've never told anyone before, why would you have told me. You're too stubborn for your own good. I think we've all figured out that you have trust issues."

"That doesn't change the fact that I could have gotten you killed." I shot back.

"What about the shoot out at Wild Horse?" She asked. "Hu? You knocked me out of the way. I'd be dead right now if you hadn't been there."

I rolled my eyes, hating myself for what I was about to say. "No, you would have been fine, because you wouldn't have been there in the first place. Had Ranger and the team been here at Haywood when they got the call about Wild Horse, instead of at the airport picking me up, you never would have been allowed to go with them because Ranger doesn't trust you in the field."

Her eyes searched mine. I didn't know what she was looking for and I worked hard to keep my face blank. My words were mean, but they were true. "Don't do this." She said knowingly. I kept my face hard. I couldn't have her getting in trouble because of my stupidity. I never should have let us get as close as we had. I had too many problems. She deserved someone stronger than me, someone better.

"Look," I said flatly. "I would have left anyway. Now I'm just leaving before I hurt someone. Go find Ryan for me. Make sure he knows I'm alive."

She nodded, her eye's still locked on mine. After everything I'd done, she was still willing to help me. I should have trusted her enough to tell her. I dropped my blank face and matched her gaze. I hoped she could see how sorry I was for putting her through all of my crap. My eyes dropped to the mark on her neck, for just a moment, and she blushed. The tension in the room spiked and I was afraid that if I didn't leave fast we'd set the place alight; or worse I'd pin her to the wall, in front of everyone, and kiss her senseless like I wanted to.

"I'm sorry." I mumbled before I turned tail and ran, like a coward. I pushed past Tank and Hal on my way to the stairs and caught sight of Blaze and Razor. Razor gave me a sad smile, but it hurt to see Blaze pull away from me. Out of all of the RangeMen I'd gotten closest to the pair of them.

I pushed open the door to the stairs and nearly flew down the flight between five and four. I skidded into my room, making sure to lock the door behind me. There was no way I'd be going to the airport and it was only a matter of time before Ranger or someone realized this and came to look for me. I needed to be long gone by then.

I striped out of my RangeMan uniform, leaving it on the bed, and changing into a set of my own clothes. I pulled on a pair of dark jeans and a long sleeve gray shirt. I kept the black RangeMan boots. I tied my hair back, pinning it into the bun that Julie liked so much so it would stay out of my face.

I dumped my things onto the bed and clipped on my utility best. I couldn't bring everything so I would have to hope that Ranger wouldn't toss the things I left behind. My gun went at the small of my back, my throwing knives were on the belt near my hips. I tucked a knife in my boot, one along my forearm under my shirt and another small pocketknife went into my bra.

I added extra ammo, strapped on my flack vest, added a black windbreaker, and tossed a small bag of gear across my back, the strap crossed over my chest from my shoulder to my opposite hip. There was a knock on my door and I froze. If I answered the door loaded for bear like this, someone would get suspicious.

"Shilo?" It was Hector. "Open the door, I bring your computer for you. You going to need it."

I cracked the door open and found Hector standing in the hallway with my laptop. He saw my outfit and smirked pushing his way into the room and shutting the door quickly. "Don't want the cameras to see your outfit." He explained when I scowled at him. "I knew you wouldn't listen to Ranger."

"What do you want?"

He handed me my computer. "You're going to need this if you want to find your brother before it too late."

"Why are you helping me?"

He smiled again and his eyes softened. "I like you." He admitted. "You care about Julie. I can tell you do."

I nodded. "Yeah, well I messed that up just fine on my own, thanks."

"Not messed up." He said in his broken English. "Julie smarter then people give her credit. She know you were only saying those things so she could help find Ryan. If Ranger thought she was to upset he'd pull her from the case."

"I shouldn't have let myself get this close to her."

"No," He said gently. "You wrong about that too. It is hard to find someone who loves you as much as I think you love her. Steph and Ranger have it. So do you and Julie. She was right that you were supposed to come here. You do make mistakes though," He added. "Not good idea to lie to Ranger."

"Thanks for the advice." I said rolling my eyes. "You're a little late with that one."

His eyes narrowed making the teardrops tattooed there stand out even more against his tanned skin. "That wasn't advice, that a fact. You going to have to work hard to earn their trust back. My advice is this." Then he moved. I knew I was faster than he was, but I'd let my guard down. He pinned me against the wall, one of my own knives at my throat. "You hurt Julie, you in big trouble." He said darkly. "If you think Razor's good with a blade you should see me. I trained him. I care about Julie, a lot of us do. Don't mess it up."

Then he slid my blade back into my belt and backed up. He let himself out of my room and shut the door behind him. It took me a moment to pull myself back together. I think Julie underestimated how much the guys here cared about her. Hector clearly adored her.

I finished packing my things and was just trying to decide my best plan of action for getting out of the building when someone else knocked on my door. I peeked out the peephole and scowled at the man standing in the hall.

"What do you want?" It was Col. Lowry.

"Shilo," He said softly. "Look, I know I messed up. I always meant to tell you about Ryan. I just didn't know when the right time was. Please," He asked. "Can we just talk about this?"

"No," I said sharply. It might have been childish, but I wasn't ready to forgive him. If Ryan died, I probably never would.

"Alright," He agreed easily. "We can talk later on the plane. I have a few different ideas for how we'll hide you this time. If Ranger's team can get Ryan back we can hide him too."

I rolled my eyes. He could take the plane all by himself. If he really thought I was about to leave Ryan behind, it only proved how little he knew about me. I wanted until I heard the elevator close behind him before I started working. I'd figured out how I was going to get out.

The window in my room was a straight drop, four stories down, to the sidewalk below. Outside Julie's window however there was a tree. It would still be a decent drop, but I probably wouldn't break both of my legs. I flipped open my laptop and smiled. Hector had left a connection to the RangeMan cameras on the desktop. I didn't know why he was helping me, but I'd take it.

I hacked into the computers and went to the monitor on the fourth floor hallway. I recorded a three minutes section of empty hallway and set it to loop over and over again. Once that was done I quickly hacked into Tank's office computer. I didn't want to risk Ranger's since I was pretty sure he'd be able to tell. No way would Tank be on his computer right now.

I opened his file on the O'Donnell case and copied down the address we had for the O'Donnell's Point Pleasant house. If they already had Ryan, I was betting he was being held at this address. I also copied down the addresses for the four bars and restaurants we had confirmed Ryan playing at. One of them had to know how to get a hold of them. I tucked the piece of scrap paper into my back pocket, closed up my computer, tucked it into my bag and made a break for it.

I cracked open the door and checked to make sure the hallway was clear. It was. I scurried across the hall and a stuck my lock picks into the door. I wasn't the best with locks so it took almost a minutes before the door swung open and I slipped inside.

As soon as the door closed, I was hit with memories of the last time I'd been in here. I could still smell the scent of us, feel her fingers on my skin, and hear her voice as she said my name. I would never forget our one moment together and I was sad I'd never get the chance to come back here. No matter how this played out it would be to dangerous for me to return. I hope she knew that I'd never meant to play with her. I hoped she knew that I loved her.

I pulled a bottle from my back pocket and smiled to myself as I set it on her bedside table. The clouded glass was gold in color and shaped like a four leave clover. The name _Shamrocks_ scrawled in elegant green scrip across the front. If my scent drove her half as wild as her scent did me, she'd appreciate the small gift. I could always get another bottle. At the last minute, I left my RangeMan phone on her bed too. I couldn't risk them being able to track me.

I tossed open the window in her living room and glanced out carefully. I knew RangeMan had outside cameras so I'd have to make this fast. I crouched in the window ledge and leapt before I had the chance to think about what I was doing. The gap was larger than it looked and I had a moment of panic as I dropped thought the air. I grabbed onto a thick branch and pulled myself into the tree, dropping through the rest of its leaves as quickly as I could.

I held my breath as I dropped the last three yards to the grass and hit the ground at a dead sprint. I had to get under cover before Ranger could send out SUV's to look for me.

**Pov-Julie**

I watched with the others as Shilo raced away from us and disappeared down the stairs. It took everything I had not to run after her. I'd known immediately what she was doing when she'd told me to stop speaking. Family was so important to Shilo; she wouldn't want me speaking out against mine in her defense.

When she'd asked me to help find Ryan I'd agreed just as quickly. It was obvious to everyone that Ranger wasn't going to change his mind and let Shilo continue to help us. She trusted me, so I'd have to stay and work this side for her.

Ranger barked out orders for the core team to meet him back in the conference room and for everyone else to get back to work. I took just one step towards the stairs and he called for me to come too. I joined Bobby, Lester, Tank, and Steph in the conference room and found Hal already waiting for us.

"We got an address from one of the bars." He said, showing Ranger a piece of paper.

"Are we going to talk about the giant elephant in the room?" Stephanie asked. You could always trust Steph to go straight for the throat.

No one spoke. I glanced at the boy's, but kept my face blank.

"Not much to say." Ranger finally said, breaking the uncomfortable silence. "She leaves tonight; we don't have to worry about her anymore."

"You don't think she'll go quietly do you?" Bobby asked. "I'm sort of surprised she stopped fighting with you as easily as she did out there."

"Might be a good idea to put a guard on her room." Tank said.

Ranger nodded and reached for his phone. I couldn't let him do it. I knew that Shilo wouldn't stay. She'd leave and hunt down Ryan on her own. I was worried about the danger she'd get herself into, but knew that there was nothing I could do to stop her, so I'd do what I could to make it easier.

"You don't have to do that." I commented dryly. "She's not stupid enough to tangle with you, Dad. Besides," I added. "How exactly do you expect her to get out of the building with all of the men and cameras watching for her? Don't waste any of your guys on a lost cause."

Ranger thought for a second. "If she tries to sneak out, we lock her one of the holding cells until this mess is done."

"Julie, are you ok?" Stephanie asked me and for the first time in my life I wished she would butt out. Stephanie was scary good at reading people and she'd see the pain on my face if I let up even a little bit. "I know you and Shilo have worked together a lot this last week." She continued. "She was your friend."

"Still is." I corrected. "I'm upset she didn't trust me enough to tell me, but I don't blame her for keeping her secrets. I'm pretty sure the violent history of my family's murder wouldn't be the first thing I told people in a new environment either."

"She could have gotten you killed," Bobby said harshly. "You've been out with her alone multiple times. We're lucky no one's gotten hurt."

"She never meant to put any of us in danger." I started, trying to keep my voice even. "Maybe she made a mistake. There's nothing we can do about it now." I turned to look at Hal. "Where is this place?" I asked pointing to the address he had. "What did they tell you about it?"

The manager at a local bar had given Hal the address. He was friends with one of the other men in the band and this was his address. His name was Conner Molony. Hopefully Conner would know how to find Ryan.

"Defiantly sounds Irish to me." Lester commented. "Proves were on the right track."

Hal nodded. "He said we could probably get Ryan's address from this man. The house is about a half an hours drive from here."

Ranger nodded. "Then let's start getting ready. I'll grab a few more guys to come with us. Pack for anything." The he looked at me. "Julie I want you to come with us."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Why?" Shilo calling Ranger out on not wanting me in the field had hurt. Doing it in front of everyone had been embarrassing. Everyone knew Ranger had held off on giving me field work, but no one had had the balls to call him on it yet.

"I promised to show more confidence in you and your abilities." He said, reminding me of our conversation in the hospital only a couple of days ago.

I smiled softly, glad both for the fact that he believed in me and that I'd get the chance to help Ryan like I'd promised Shilo I would. Just then, the door bust open and Cal raced into the room a panicked sort of look on his face.

"Shilo's gone." He said. "We caught sight of her running down the sidewalk on one of the monitors just a minute ago."

I smirked proudly to myself. I knew my girl would figure out how to get out of dad's high security building. Nothing short of death would stop her from getting to Ryan now that she knew he was alive. I just hoped we'd get them both back safe before it came to that.

Ranger scowled. "How did she get out?" He glanced at Tank, "Pull up the monitors."

Tank started to mess with the computer in the conference room and Cal showed him which monitor to pick. We all watched as Shilo dropped out of a tree, packing more heat than Ranger probably took to invade small country's and took off at a sprint down the road.

"This monitor's on the wrong side of the building for her to have left from her room." Bobby pointed out. "Where did she leave from?"

Ranger stood up and stalked out onto the floor. "Track her phone!" Ranger ordered. "Where is she going? I want her found."

"She must have left the phone behind." Blaze said from his computer. "Its signal is coming from Julie's room on four."

Ranger threw me a look and I shrugged, following him as he took off for the stairs. I didn't have any idea how Shilo had gotten her phone in my room, unless she'd left it there after lunch. The door to my room was unlocked and I nearly had a hot flash as we walked in. The room still smelt like her, like us.

Ranger raced over to the open window and look out. "Shit." He cursed.

"Found her phone." Lester said, coming out of my bedroom.

I blushed and hoped that we hadn't left a big mess behind. I peeked into the room to check. The bed was a bit messy; my comforter was on the floor. Then I noticed the bottle. I knew there was a stupid smile on my face as I crossed the room and picked it up.

The bottle was deceptively heavy and the glass was cool to the touch. I took off the decorative top and shot some of the spray into the air. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. It smelt just like her.

"That's beautiful." I jumped as Steph came into my room and sniffed the perfume I'd just sprayed. "What is it?" She asked.

I shrugged and set the bottle back down. "Just something new I discovered recently." I told her. "I think it's my new favorite."

* * *

><p>~Darkrose<p>

Question 6- What's your favorite perfume?

R&R


	9. Chapter 9

My favorite perfume is called Dragon's Blood. I buy it, along with the matching soap, every year at my states Renaissance Festival. It's fabulous. Sorry this took so long, this chapter was fighting with me, but I hope you enjoy the final project. I'm happy with it.

* * *

><p>"Te Amo"<p>

Chapter 9

**Pov- Shilo**

I didn't stop running until I was several blocks from the RangeMan building. I ducked into a small deli and busied myself with looking at the cases of food, watching the street for any sign of black SUV's.

"Hello," I woman behind the counter say's as she smiled brightly. "Welcome to Giovacchini's, is there anything I can help you find? The Olive loaf is fresh."

I opened my mouth to say no, that I was just looking, but then I had another idea. I had a list of addresses in my pocket with no way of getting around. I didn't know Trenton. It could take me all day to find one of these places let alone all of them.

"Actually I'm new in town." I told her, leaning against the counter. "I'm here visiting some friends. Do you know how I'd get to Vicente Plum's Bail Bond office from here? I've got to be close right?"

She nodded. "Sure, it's only twenty minutes from here on foot. I can make you a map."

She got a piece of paper and drew me a quick map, adding street names by memory and pointing out some of the local shop's I'd pass along the way. I smiled politely and tried not to make it obvious when I would let my eye's travel across the large front window, checking for trouble.

Five minutes later, I let myself out, checked the street, and raced across it keeping up my jog as I followed my makeshift map. I knew from stories Julie had told me that the bail bond's office was where Steph and some of the guys did skip work though RangeMan. Steph's cousin, Vinny, was the one who had posted bail on Michael O'Donnell in the first place. His systems wouldn't be as intense as RangeMan's, but I could probably get a map and directions there.

I was only a block away from the bond's office when I caught sight of a black SUV ahead of me , parked on the road. I ducked quickly into another shop. The old antique shop smelt like mothballs and wood polish. I ducked behind a shelf of old glassware and watched out the window. Three men got out of the car, all dressed in black RangeMan swat gear. Looked like a hunting party to me.

Razor was easy to spot. If his shaggy brown hair hadn't given him away, the sling on his arm would have. With him was Blaze, leaner then most of the Merry Men with his mop of blond curls he was easy to spot at a distance too. The last was more your standard issue RangeMan. Big, thick, muscle bound, buzzed hair that looked brown. From the distance, I wasn't sure who it was Probably Hal or Ram.

They went into the bond's office for a few minutes then came back out. Hal/Ram talked for a moment before motioning to the street and they split up. Blaze went up the street, Hal/Ram went down, and Razor crossed to my side of the street.

I watched as they methodically entered each shop for a few moments before moving onto the next. They were searching for someone, ten bucks it was me. I moved away from the window as Razor got closer to the antique shop. The store was one room, with a staff only room in the back, no restroom to hide in, no closest to duck into. I could sneak out the back, but then I might run into some workers who would yell and give me away.

I moved into the very back of the shop and stood behind a large wardrobe. Razor came in the front door, went to the counter and rang the small bell for service. An older woman with neat set steel gray curls came out of the back and greeted him warmly. She didn't even blink at his swat clothes or the gun on his hip. Clearly Ranger's men were well known in this town. I watched as he showed her a picture and asked if she'd seen this woman.

"No I'm afraid I haven't." She said sorrowfully. "Is she in trouble?"

He shrugged. "She might be, she went missing this morning. She's new to the area so she may also just be lost. She forgot her phone so we can't get in touch with her."

"That's terrible." She said honestly. "I hope you find her soon."

Razor thanked the woman and was on his way out, when he stopped. I sucked in a breath and ducked when he glanced in my direction. I listened for the sound of shoes on the floor, the sound of the door closing, anything. All I could hear was the pounding of my own heart in my ears. I took a couple of deep breather to slow my heart and even out my breathing. I was just getting ready to glance up and see if he'd left when a hand wrapped around my shoulder and clamped over my mouth.

It was a good thing he'd covered my mouth or I might have screamed. As it was, with his arm in a sling, it was easy to break away from him. I leapt a yard away and put a small wooden end table between us. The woman who had been at the counter had gone back into the staff room.

"Shhh," He said softly. "You don't want her to come back out and see you."

"What do you want?" I hissed.

He rolled his eyes at me. "We're supposed to be looking for you. You're going to get yourself killed going rouge out here all alone."

"You think you can take me in one handed." I asked, shifting my weight away from him, ready to bolt for the door if I had to. I didn't want to hurt him, but with his injured arm, I knew I could take Razor out quickly if I needed to.

"No," He said. "I'm not going to take you in. You wouldn't let me if I tried. Where are you headed?" He asked.

I raised an eyebrow, not sure if this was some kind of a trick or if he was genuinely trying to help me. Maybe he'd already hit a panic button and the other's were coming in through the back door.

"Why would you help me?" I asked. "You could lose your job if Ranger finds out about this."

"Are you going to tell on me?" He asked sarcastically. "Blaze and Hal are down the road, no one needs to know you where ever in here but me. What's your plan? Where are you headed?"

"Why?" I asked again.

He shrugged. "We're friends right?" He asked.

"I lied to you." I reminded him. "You got shot because of me."

"Please, I've been hit worse than this before. I'll get the sling off in a couple of weeks and it wasn't your fault O'Donnell opened fire on us."

When I hesitated he continued. "Look, I get what you're doing." He said. "You're going after Ryan. You're not stupid, you know the risks and you've decided that the chance to save him is worth it. I respect that. We don't even know if the O'Donnell's have him yet, maybe they don't."

"Unlikely, we haven't seen them for almost twenty-four hours. I bet they have him and they're hiding. Waitting for a chance to flee with him or dispose of him."

He nodded. "That's what Ranger thinks too. Only we think they're waiting for a chance to grab you too. Col. Lowry's going ape shit back at Haywood. He wants to call in some of his military contacts to help look for you."

"I'm going to get him back Razor." I vowed. "I won't let anyone stop me. Not the Col. Not you, and not Ranger."

"I'm not trying to stop you." He said. "I just want to make sure you have a smart plan. I know that things are a little weird right now." He continued. "But I don't think you lied to us for malicious reasons. Everyone's got something in their past they don't want to talk about. Ask me about my sister sometime. You're my friend now and I don't have many so I take good care of them."

I smirked at that, remembering when he called me out in the gym for not having many friends. Guess I'm not the only antisocial one here. "You're my friend too Razor. I hope were still friends when this is all over."

"Me too," He agreed. "Tell me what you're up to. What's your plan?"

I nodded. "I figured I could get a map at the bond's office. I need directions, since I don't know the area. Then I'd check out the address's we know Ryan's played at. Someone has to know where I can find him or how I can get a hold of him."

He nodded. "You have the addresses? How did you get them?"

"Talent," And a little Hispanic helper who shall forever remain nameless. However this played out in the end I'd keep Hector's secret with me until the day I died.

I showed him the list and he pointed to the second one. "Start there. Hal got an address off one of the workers. Seems he knows a couple of the guys in the band. The girl at the counter in the office right now is named, Barbra. She's Connie's niece, you know who Connie is?"

I nodded. Julie had told me about the staff at the bond office. Connie worked the desk and a couple of her younger nieces and nephews did the filing and helped out around the office.

"You can tell her you're doing work with Steph. She's smart, but she lacks street sense. Any halfway decent liar could fool her. Connie would have called Ranger and busted your ass so you're lucky she's out right now."

I nodded. My eyes flickered, out of habit, to the window behind him, scanning for black cars and I caught sight of Blaze just as he passed in front of the window. I jumped back behind the wardrobe and crouched down, partially hiding myself under another table.

The door swung open and Blaze spoke. "Anything?" He asked.

"Nope," Razor said, sounding calm and collected. Like he wasn't hiding me from everyone. I owned Razor so big for this. "Owner hasn't seen her."

"I didn't really think she'd come over here." Blaze said. "She doesn't know the area, there's nothing she could get from the office anyway."

"She knows Vinny posted bail for O'Donnell." Razor pointed out.

"Yeah," Blaze agreed and I heard them head towards the door. "But, she'd already have all of that info from the files we had. She'd not looking for his bail bond's man, she's looking for him."

They left and I waited a full five minutes before sneaking back up to the front of the store and checking the road. The car was gone, and I didn't see any big, scary men dressed in black standing watch on the corners. I calmly walked out of the store, across the street and entered the bond's office as if I belonged there.

The bond's office was small. A large desk was its focal point, blocking the door to a back office. There was an old brown sofa and a pair of chairs that had seen better days. I could hear someone moving in the back, but I kept my focus on the young woman sitting behind the desk.

Barbra only looked nineteen or twenty years old, and she had some rocking curve. Her brown hair was teased high and her lip's were glossed candy apple red. She was dressed in black slacks and a conservative blouse and hidden behind her black rimmed glasses were intelligent brown eyes. Very Italian, very vavavoom.

"Hi," She said warmly as I walked in. Her eyes flashed to my set of weapons before returning to my face. "Welcome to Vicente Plum Bail Bond's office." She continued easily. "How can I help you?"

I smiled warmly and kept my posture unthreatening as I neared the desk and dropped into one of the seats there. "Hi, you must be Barbra."

She nodded. "That's me; let me guess you know my aunt Connie." She relaxed in her seat and pulled out a nail file, sharpening her matching candy apple claws.

I shrugged. "We've never meet directly, but I know of her. I'm in town helping a couple of friends. You probably know Stephanie."

"Stephanie Manoso?" She said. "You bet I do, she's bad ass."

I nodded. "Definitely a bad ass." I agreed. "I'm helping out with the O'Donnell hunt. I was on my way back to Rangeman so I could look up some information when I passed by. This is closer to where I need to be so I was wondering if you could help me out."

"Whatcha need Honey?" She asked, spinning to her computer. Her nails started to click on the key's.

I passed her the addresses. "I'm supposed to go to these locations and flash O'Donnell's photo around, ask some questions, you know. But I forgot to get directions. I'm new in town and don't know my way around."

"No problem. Just give me one second."

Five minutes later, I was completely impressed with little Barbra. She could work the computers at RangeMan. Her manicured nails flew across the keyboard and then I had a map of the town with each of my locations circled in red. She'd printed me out basic info on each and showed me the shortest rout to the bar Razor had pointed out as my first stop.

"One of these is in Point Pleasant." She said. "That's a way's away, but the others are all local joints." She tapped one. "This is a great place to go dancing."

I nodded along and waited while she finished.

"Need anything else?" She asked as I tucked the map and my information away.

"Not at the moment, thanks for your help."

I turned to leave and was blocked as a woman came in the front door. "Yo Barb," She called out. "Where your aunt Connie at?"

"She's out right now Lu," Barbra said. "She'll be back soon, take a seat."

She turned her eyes on my and I got my first good look at her. "And who are you?" She asked, looking me up and down, noting my weapons. "Vinny get a new BEA?"

The woman Barbra had called Lu, was a full figured, African American woman with flame red hair. Her plus sized body was pressed into a cheetah print pencil skirt and a matching tan/gold ruffled blouse that had lots of chocolate cleavage. The outfit was finished with black stockings, black rhinestone heels, and giant bedazzled earrings. Hood meets businesswoman.

"She's Steph's friend." Barbra explained before I could open my mouth. "She's helping out with their big case."

I nodded. "Actually, I was just on my way out."

She moved to block me. "Hold up, I know you, you're that girl who's been working with Pierre and Ranger tracking down that boy who jumped bail and don't speak no English. He told me about you."

"Pierre?" I asked. Who the hell was Pierre?

She smiled. "Don't you be telling my Tank I told you that." She said. "I'm the only one who gets to call him that name. You call him Pierre and he'll kill you."

I bit back a grin. Tank's real name was Pierre!

"Josie calls him Pierre." Barbra said, blowing on her nail and moving her file over to the next already perfectly rounded finger.

Lu, rolled her eyes. "He's her daddy. Of course she gunna use his real name. Mostly she just calls him Papa though."

Oh! Things were starting to line up. I remembered reading in Tank's file that he'd gotten married a few years ago to a woman named Lula. They'd had a daughter together a couple of years before that named Josie. If I remembered right, she was 6 or 7 now. Lula was one of Stephanie's best friends.

"Your Tank's wife." I guessed, trying to maneuver myself closer to the door.

Lula smiled big. "You bet I am." She said showing me the giant ring on her fourth finger. The band was white gold, with a giant diamond right in the middle. Simple and loud, it had probably coast Tank a small fortune, but it did look good on her. "He's a great big hunk of love aint he?" She asked enthusiastically. "That man is to damn fine and he's all mine."

I smiled, but kept my opinions of Tank to myself. Sure, he was a good-looking guy; all of the RangeMen were. My tastes just happened to run a little smaller, softer, sweeter, and way more feminine then I could ever see Tank pulling off. Tank definitely wasn't my kind of lady.

"What are you doing here?" Lula asked. "Ranger's guys always pick up their flies in the morning. I know that on account of I used to work here."

I raised an eyebrow. Lula was a Recovery Agent?

"Don't you be given me that look." She said. "Ranger does that eyebrow thing and it's real irksome too. You don't think I could be a bounty hunter, do you?"

I shrugged. She didn't really look like a Bounty Hunter to me, but what did I know.

"You're not a Bounty Hunter." Barbra said. "You and Steph used to get in all kinds of trouble."

Lula waved her off. "We might have got in trouble but we always caught our man, dead or alive, that's the saying. I did the filing here at the office too." She added turning back to me. "Now I got a building downtown that I run. I got my degree online, figure I've got to make something of myself now that I got Tank and Josie counting on me right. She gunna be real proud of her Mama."

Barbra pointed towards the window. "There's Aunt Connie now. She had to go write bond on some guy from the Burg."

I moved away from the door as Connie came in, putting myself in a straight line for the back door. I needed to get moving, time was not on my side and I was wasting too much of it here.

Connie looked like an older version of Barbra. Lots of curves, teased hair and blood red nails. Betty Boop does Jersey and she smokes two packs a day. She stopped when she came in the door and locked eyes with me. I watched her connect the dots, someone had told her about me.

"You must be Shilo." She said presently trying to put up a front so I wouldn't bolt. Betty Boop was smart.

I nodded. "Hi,"

"Hey," Lula said. "I need to know if your still gunna help me out next week." She asked directing her question to Connie.

Connie glanced over at Lula. "Of course I'll be there." Then she looked back over at me, trying to keep me in her line of sight. "What are you doing here?" She asked casually.

I shrugged. "Just picking up a few things."

Her eyes narrowed and she glanced over at Barbra. "You gave her information. Dose she look like she works for RangeMan?"

Barbra glanced at me probably noting the lack of RangeMan uniform. "She said she worked with Steph." Barbra argued, "Not RangeMan."

I inched farther away and Connie rounded on me. "I know all about you." She said, dropping into Rhino mode. "Ranger called me earlier to keep an eye out for you. Grab her!"

Lula jumped at me and tripped on her shoes. She fell in the hall and blocked Connie who'd lunged right after here. I didn't wait to see if they were ok. I flew down the hall, crashed out the back door and took off as fast as my feet would carry me. Several blocks away I raced across the street and cursed as I passed in front of another black SUV.

The car laid on its horn and its break, but again I didn't stop to say hi. I leapt a fence and took off across lawns. I wasn't as strong at the guys of RangeMan, but I'd have speed on my side. I ran until my sides burned before tucking myself into a doorway and pulling out the print off map I'd gotten from Barbra.

I'd been watching street signs while I ran, but it still took me a few minutes to find myself on the map. I was several blocks from bar I needed to be at, but I figured if I could make it this far, I could get there.

**Pov- Julie**

"What do you mean she's gone?"

I rolled my eyes and spun the chair I was sitting in. What did he think 'gone' meant? Everyone was gathered on five while Ranger and Tank gave out orders. Col. Lowry had stormed onto the floor demanding to be kept up to date and then Ranger had told him Shilo was missing.

"We have to find her." He said urgently. I recognized the hard tenor of his voice. It was the same drill sergeant voice that Ranger used in the field. "They'll kill her."

"We're going to send out a couple of cars to look for her. I can't spare anymore men then that at the moment. We still have to find O'Donnell and Ryan." Ranger said. "You should know that if my men catch her I'm going to lock her up until this is done."

Col. Lowry shook his head. "When your men get her, I was her sedated and shackled. I'll take her away myself."

"That's kidnapping." My voice was low and I narrowed my eyes at him from my position in the background. For someone who claimed to care about Shilo, like a father, he seemed far too eager to drug her and drag her across the country against her will. He hadn't even asked about our efforts to find out where Ryan was.

"It will keep her safe." He stated easily. His eye's flashed to where I was sitting and narrowed slightly. "Shilo's to head strong to think about the dangers to herself in this situation. Ryan's the same way, that's why it was safer for them to be split up in the first place."

"She knows what she's doing. She doesn't care about the danger to herself." I argued. "Unlike you, she cares wither or not Ryan lives. She just wants to help him. He is her brother after all."

The Col. glowered down at me, but I refused to flinch or look away. I wasn't going to let this man get away with trying to bully me and I wouldn't let him speak ill of Shilo. "Don't pretend to know what I'm thinking girl." He said sharply. "Of course I want to see Ryan returned safely, but I will not lose Shilo to those men on my watch." He turned his back on me then, clearly stating that our conversation was over. For now, I'd let it go.

Tank was calling in contract worker to cover the building while Ranger set up teams and started handing out jobs. Razor refused to be sidelined, so Ranger added him to Blaze and Hal's team, since their job had the lowest amount of risk.

"Go to all of the local spots she might know of. Pino's, the Diner, the Bond's office. Ask around; see if anyone has spotted her. Use any force necessary to bring her in, short of killing her." He odered. Hal nodded that he understood and they took off.

"I'll call in some contacts." Col. Lowry said. "Some of my guys can come and help hunt for Shilo.

Ranger shook his head. "No, this isn't a military mater. Shilo's an adult, she's free to do what she wants and she knows the risk to herself. She's made her choice."

Col. Lowry's eyes narrowed and Ranger puffed out his chest in return. Ranger wasn't active duty anymore, having dropped his government contract when he married Steph, but he still carried the title of Col. from his time in Special Force. It was kind of interesting to watch them go head to head. My money was on Ranger.

"Fine," Col. Lowry relented with a sneer. "Your men have forty-eight hours to find her then I'm going over your head with this. And I want to help look for her in the mean time."

Ranger nodded at that. "You know her better than any of us. You may be our only chance to find her first."

I smirked. I'd only known Col. Lowry for an hour, but I was positive that I knew more about Shilo then he did. Razor caught my eye from across the floor and sent me a knowing smirk. Clearly, he thought so too. Ranger paired Col. Lowry with Bobby and sent them off to start looking at likely places Shilo would turn up.

The main task force consisted of Ranger, Tank Lester, Steph, Hector and, me. We were going to go out to the address Hal had gotten and start hunting down Ryan. Col. Lowry and Bobby would meet up with us later, once we had a strong lead. I had no doubt that we'd cross paths with Shilo at some point. I just hoped we'd get to them first.

Once the orders were out and the teams set the floor shook into motion. Ranger left to make some phone calls. I joined the other guys in the ammo room to suit up. Kevlar vests for everyone, extra ammo, my gun at the small of my back, and a second one in my boot. I felt like Rambo.

Steph meet me in the hall as I headed for the stairwell and raised an eyebrow at me. "You ok?" She asked.

I nodded. "Fine." I took a step forward, but stopped when Steph grabbed my arm. She tugged me to the side of the hall and made sure no one was watching before she swept my hair away from my shoulder.

I knew exactly what she was seeing and made no attempts to pull my hair back over the mark Shilo had left on my skin. She looked the bruise over before looking back at my face. I offered no explanation, but didn't try to hide behind a blank face either. Let her see whatever she would see in my eyes or from my posture. At this point, I had nothing to hide.

"Shilo?" She asked.

I moved a step away and shook my hair so my neck was covered as more guys moved passed us in the hall. "It certainly wasn't Blaze." Steph knew about my preference. Since Ella and Stephanie were the only other women in the building Shilo really was the only option.

She didn't seem satisfied with my answer, but she didn't press the issue. We joined a few more guys on their way to the stairs and filed into the underground garage. Teams split off, got into their cars and took off on their assigned routs and tasks. Razor gave my shoulder a squeeze as he passed by.

"Don't get shot, ok." He said seriously.

I nodded. "You too."

I watched until he was in the SUV with Hal and Blaze and then they pulled out of the garage and road off. Ranger called me over and it was only then that I realized ours was the last team to leave. We were all fitted with wires and earpieces so we could keep in touch once we had to get out of the cars.

"Mic check." I said once I was wired and everyone nodded that they'd heard me. Everyone tested their mic's and then we were ready to roll.

We piled into two fully outfitted SUV's. I sat with Lester and tank, while Steph and Hector road with Ranger. Ranger pulled out first and Tank followed him onto the street.

Half an hour later, we pulled up in front of a small house with brown sided. The neighborhood was cute and neat not the kind of place I'd expected to find a bass player for a bar band. Tank cut the engine and we all piled out onto the street. Ranger and Steph went up to the front door. Ranger stood to the side while Steph knocked. This was standard procedure for us, since people were more likely to open their door to Steph then any of the Merry Men. She appeared less threatening.

No one answered, so they knocked again. Ranger rapped on a window and Steph called out, asking if anyone was home.

"Conner Molony! Anyone home?"

Nothing.

They walked back to the cars and Lester asked the obvious. "Now what?"

"B and E." I suggested. Shilo was out there somewhere with a mad man stalking her and this bastard wasn't home. We didn't have any time to play around. "He might have a list of friends in the house somewhere. Caller ID, anything we could use to get our information faster."

Ranger nodded. "That's what I was thinking."

"The laws not on our side." Stephanie reminded us. "This man has done nothing wrong and he's not FTA. We have no reason to believe Michael will be in this house. If someone calls the police, we'll be in trouble and we're out of Trenton's jurisdiction so the officials won't be as familiar with us."

"Give him twenty minutes." Tank suggested. "If he's not home by then we go in. We do have reason to believe that Ryan is in mortal danger and that this man will have information to help us save him. The police will understand that, even if they don't like it."

Ranger nodded. "Agreed; Steph and Hector take the back. Tank will watch out front. If he doesn't show up Julie, Lester, and I will go in."

I didn't really like it, but had no choice other then to go along with it. Steph and Hector disappeared around the back of the house. Tank and Lester took one car and drove around the block. They parked a few houses down where they wouldn't look as suspicious. Ranger and I leaned against the remaining SUV to wait.

The silence between us was more pronounced then it usually was and I could tell Ranger was thinking about saying something. Let him stew for a bit, I wasn't going to break the silence for him. Another five minutes stretched on before He found the words he'd been looking for.

"Is something bothering you Niña?" He asked.

I looked over at him and raised an eyebrow in response when I saw that his signature blank face was in place. "Nope,"

"You seem on edge." He pressed.

I shrugged. "I just want to find them before this shit hits the fan."

"Even after she'd lied to you?" He asked and I knew he was looking at me, thought I refused to meet his eye. "You're still worried about finding her alive and unharmed."

I nodded. "I don't care about her withholding a little information. She's my friend and I care about her."

"I warned you about getting to close to her." He said. "Clouds your judgment."

At that I smirked just a bit, hoping Ranger wouldn't notice. He had no idea how close we'd gotten or that I'd smashed my promise to him into a hundred pieces. I knew sooner or later I'd have to tell him. I was choosing later.

Our fabulous conversation was interrupted by Tank, whose voice spoke over the earpiece we were both wearing. "Just got a text from Lula." He said. "Shilo was at the bonds office. She tricked Barbra into giving her some information and took off."

"What kind of information?"

Just then Ranger's phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen. "Hold on, Connie's calling." He flipped open the phone and said. "Yo,"

Ranger listened for a while.

"When?"

More listening.

"What did Barbra give her?"

Even more listening.

"Thanks for the call."

He hung up.

"Shilo's got the addresses for the bar's Ryan's band has played at. She got a map from the bonds office so she'll be able to find them fast."

"If she goes to each one she'll eventually wind up here." Lester said. "Got to give her credit for being smart. I wonder how she got the addresses?"

We needed to move faster. I was halfway to the door before Ranger caught up with me. To my surprise, he didn't try to stop me. Instead, he pulled a pick from his pocket and let us in.

"We're going in."

It only took Ranger a second to pick the lock and then we stepped into a dark front room. Most of the shades were drawn. Ranger pulled a pair of gloves from his pocket and slipped them on. "Don't touch anything." He reminded me.

I smiled. "No worries." Then I pulled a pair of my own gloves from my pocket. We moved methodically through the house, searching drawers, the desk, kitchen table. We found a small handgun in a draw in the kitchen along with a box of ammo.

Ranger played the messages on his phone. We listened as first Connor's sister and then his mother both called to ask if he would be over for diner next week. The next three calls were hang-up's. The last one was a man's voice and all it said was 'Call me.' No way to know who it was or what they wanted.

I took the stairs to the second floor and found our first clue. The master bed room was in typical disarray for a bachelor. Some clothes on the floor, bed unmade, there was a guitar in the corner that helped prove we had the right house.

"Just got a call from Ram." Tank said over our earpieces. "Shilo crossed the street in front of their SUV, while they were patrolling a few blocks from the Bonds Office. They gave chase, but lost her."

"Roger." Ranger acknowledged, without asking for more details.

A photo on the bedside table showed five men all piled together in the back of a pick-up. There were drums stacked up behind them and I recognized Connor as the man with a bass strapped to his back. The photo looked a few years old, but I could point out Ryan too. He had the same green eyes as Shilo and his messy black hair reminded me of the photo Shilo had shown me of her family.

"Find something?"

I jumped as Ranger walked up behind me and cursed softly. "Shit." It had been months since Ranger had been able to sneak up on me.

"You're distracted." He said, nodding to the photo I'd been looking at. "Looks like the same group of guys to me."

I nodded and pointed to Ryan. "That's him."

"Keep looking, I don't want us to linger here longer then we have to."

I nodded and we continued to pick through the house. Ranger was the one who final found what we'd been looking for. Down the hall from the master bedroom was another small room that looking like a studio. There was another guitar, an older set of drums and a collection of other instrument cases.

Ranger found a book that contained everything from set lists to a list of clients the band had placed for in the past. In the back was contact information for all five members of the bad, including phone numbers and addresses.

We were short on time so we took the whole book. We'd bring it back with an explanation later. We meet up with everyone back out by the car's and Ranger called our new information into Haywood. Brett was going to do a background check for us and make sure the information was current. I hoped it was since we hadn't found anything else of use.

"Alright," Ranger called. "Load up, we've got a drive ahead of us." The address listed for Ryan was on the far side of Trenton. It would take us at least forty-five minutes to get there assuming Tank and Ranger followed all of the speed limits. Yeah right.

**Pov- Shilo**

It had taken me nearly half an hour to get to the bar Razor had pointed out, but then I was faced with another problem. I couldn't walk into a bar, dressed to kill without getting the cop's called on me and I wasn't super comfortable removing all of my gear.

In the end I compromised. I removed all of the easily visible weapons and tucked them into my bag, pulling a windbreaker over my shoulders to hide the gun at the small of my back and the knife on my hip. As long as no one went poking through my bag, I'd be ok.

The bar was called 'Forever' I round bar in the center acted as the hub of life for a large open floor. A stage was off to the left and an open space in front of it would be used for dancing. There were tables set up all along the edges and as it neared diner time, the place was packed.

I stood in the doorway and let my eye's adjust to the dimmer light. There was no band on the stage, but a DJ in the corner was playing music over a set of speakers. The bar smelt like burgers, smoke, dancing bodies, and fruity cocktails. I grabbed a server by the elbow and pressed myself into his side to make sure I'd have his full attention.

"How can I help you Miss?" He asked, his eyes dropping to my breasts before finding my face again.

I smiled sweetly. "I was wondering about one of the bands who played here a couple of nights ago. Is there someone specific I could ask about them?"

He offered me one of the drinks from his tray, but I shook my head. "No thanks."

"If you're interested in music, I play in a band." He offered with a big smile. "You could come listen to us some night. I know you'd enjoy it."

I smiled and ran a hand down his arm. "That's so cool." I played along. "But, I really do need to get some information on a particular band. Maybe we could talk another night."

He nodded. "No problem Sweetness." He nodded over my shoulder and I followed his line of sight to a man near the bar. He was dressed in black slacks and a button down shirt and tie. Management, was my guess, but I couldn't read his tag from over here.

"That's Lenny near the bar; he sets up all of the bands that play here. If there's an answer to your questions he's got it." He grabbed my hand as I started to move away and brought it to his lips, kissing my knuckles. "My name's Max. Stop in and ask for me some night."

I smiled and promised I would. Poor, dumb, straight boy. I moved swiftly across the room and plopped into the seat next to where Lenny was talking to one of the bartenders. When he finished speaking I touched his arm and he turned in my direction.

"Anything I can do for you this evening ma'am?" He asked, professionally polite.

I nodded. "I was wondering if you could get me some information on one of the bands that played here a couple of nights ago."

He took the seat next to me. "Which one? Do you have a name?"

I shook my head. "No I don't have a name. They played here a couple of nights ago. Five men; One of them was playing a tin whistle."

He nodded. "I know the group you're talking about. What do you need to know about them?"

"My sister's getting married." I lied easily. "She really loved listening to them when we were here. I was hoping you'd have some contact information for them so I could ask if they would be interested in playing for us."

He smiled. "That's cool. I bet they'd love too, although, I don't think they've ever played a wedding before. They're more into folk-rock music then wedding marches."

"We want them for the reception, not the ceremony. So you have a phone number?" I pressed.

He nodded. "I'll do you one better. My buddy Connor leads the group you're talking about. They call themselves CloverRig. He's sitting right over there; you can talk to him yourself. I'll introduce you."

Lenny led me to the other side of the bar and pulled out the seat next to a tall man with white-blond hair. Connor was probably six foot one or two. He had a slim build, thin shoulders with strong arms. The first thing I noticed about his face was his very Nordic super blue eyes.

"Connor," He slapped a hand down on the man's shoulder and nodded at me. "Got a fan for you." He said with a smirk. "She wants to talk to you about a gig for CloverRig." He flagged down a bartender and ordered a pair of drinks for both of us before walking away.

Connor sipped at his drink for a moment. I didn't touch mine. He seemed to sense the seriousness in my posture so he sat up a little straighter. "What's the gig?" He asked. I smirked at his accent, Welsh.

I shook my head. "Actually there isn't one." I admitted. "I just needed to get a hold of you. I lucked out that you were here."

He raised an eyebrow at me and turned on his stool so he was facing me more directly. "And what exactly do you need me for?"

"I'm looking for one of your band mates." I explained. "A man named Ryan."

"How do you know Ryan?" He asked. Not shutting me down, but not giving me anything to go off of either.

"We're friends." I stated simply. "We haven't seen each other in a while. We lost touch and I was hoping to rectify that. I heard he was playing with your band so I was hoping I could get an address or a phone number off you."

He shook his head. "I don't make a point of passing out my friends addresses. What did you say your name was?"

"I didn't," He knew that. "It's not important anyway, are you going to help me out or not?" I didn't want to do it, but I'd take him outside and beat him up at this point if I needed too.

He shook his head. "Not, no offence but you've given me no reason to trust you Miss. You're not the only one who's come asking about Ryan lately and I don't like it." He tossed back the last of his drink and stood up. "Good night."

What? I jumped up from my seat and tailed after Connor as he made his way through the bar.

"Come on!" I called after him. "You've got to help me out here."

He ignored me and kept moving. I pushed myself through the crowed until I was right on his heels and followed him out a side door. Once we were outside, he stopped and turned to face me.

"Tell me why you want to talk to Ryan." He demanded. "Who are you?"

"I already told you, I'm a friend of Ryan's." I pressed. "Trust me; he'd want to know I was looking for him."

He shook his head again. "No dice, I've been getting phone calls for two days. A bunch of people seem to be looking for Ryan. Is he in some kind of trouble?"

I scowled at Connor. Beating him up was starting to sound like a lot of fun, but something was telling me that would be a bad idea. You could always be honest with him. A little voice in my ear said. This shit's already blowing up, better to find him fast, then find him dead. Damn it!

"How well do you know Ryan?" I asked, changing tactics.

Connor's posture relaxed slightly, but he kept the hard edge to his eyes. "We've been friends for a long time. Ryan's practically my brother."

I nodded. "Then as his friend you should help me find him before someone else does because he's in big trouble and I want to help him."

"Why would you want to help Ryan?" He asked. "How do you know him? I've never heard him mention anyone like you before."

"I doubt that." I said with a smile. "You're telling me that your best friend's never told you about his own family?"

Connor's eyes narrowed, giving away that Ryan had indeed told him about his family. At least told him what he believed had happened to his family. "That's a sick joke." Connor said dryly. "And it proves you don't know Ryan. He has no family."

I shrugged. "Neither did I until a few hours ago."

"I'm out of here." Connor turned on his heels again and started walking away. "See Ya." I huffed and chased after him.

"I'm telling you the truth." I promised. "Ryan's my brother, my real brother, and I need to find him before he gets himself hurt."

"How is he going to get hurt?" Connor asked, ignoring my comment about being related to Ryan while he pressed on down the street. "Do you know the men that have been calling me?"

I nodded. "Probably, and you'll want to stay away from them." Twenty bucks it was the O'Donnell's, or their lackeys, who had been harassing Connor to get information on Ryan. "You wouldn't want to run into them on a dark night."

"Who are they?"

"Bad men; If you care about him at all you won't let them get Ryan."

He stopped and looked at me. We were in the shadows between streetlights a block from the bar. It was after seven and the sun was setting fast. For the first time Connor seemed to be taking me seriously.

"Does this have anything to do with the whole witness protection thing he's in?" He asked.

Headlights turned onto the street we were on and I moved back farther against the nearest building. It would be harder to pick out RangeMan's cars in the dark. "Ryan told you about that?" I didn't know what cover story Col. Lowry had given to Ryan's foster parents, but he would have told them something so they knew to keep his name a secret.

Connor nodded. "Bits and pieces. Over the years, I've put them together for myself. Ryan doesn't like to talk about it much. Are you really his little sister?"

I nodded. "My names Shilo."

"They're the ones who've been calling me aren't they?" He asked. "The ones who attacked your house."

I nodded. "Yeah, they found him. That's why I've got to get to him first."

"You mean_ we've_ got to get to him first." He corrected me.

He started walking again and I nearly had to jog to keep up with his long steps. "No, you've got to tell me where Ryan is and then go stay with your parents until this is over. They could hurt you too for keeping information from them."

"No way." He said. "If you're the Shilo that Ryan's told me so much about he'd never forgive me for letting you out of my sight. He's going to flip a shit when he finds out your alive. He thinks you're dead! Why haven't you tried to find him before?"

"Long story." I brushed it off. "I'm serious about this Connor. You can't come with me, you'll get hurt. Just tell me where I can find him and I'll make sure he's safe. I promise."

Connor shook his head and started walking. "Nope, you need my help so I'm coming with you. You won't be able to find Ryan's house without me. Don't let this pretty face fool you, I can handle myself."

I rolled my eyes. "You're not even armed." I grabbed his arm and yanked him to a stop. I waited until he looked at me before continuing. "This isn't a joke." I pressed. "The men hunting Ryan are not nice people. They will have guns, they will have backup, and they want him dead. They want me dead too, you're in danger just by being seen with me."

He nodded. "I know that." He said. "Ryan's told me about the O'Donnell's before. That's who this is right?" He asked confidently, not waiting for my response. "Ryan's been my friend for a long time. Let me help you."

I could tell he wasn't going to let this go, for the sake of time we had to get moving. "Fine," I agreed. "On one condition."

He nodded. "Sure, anything."

"You do exactly what I say." I demanded, letting every drop of authority I had fall into my voice. "If things get to dangerous you fall back. If I tell you to hide, you do it. If I say turn around and go back you leave without asking questions."

He nodded. "Alright, lets role. I got your back girl."

I tugged him with me into a shadowy part of the road and redressed myself for the hunt. I gave Connor my vest and my second gun, after making sure he knew how to use it.

"I know how to shoot." He said. "My old man and I use to hunt and I keep a firearm at the house." That hardly counted as experience, but at least he was less likely to shoot his own foot off while I wasn't watching him.

Once we were ready, I looked to him. "Where's Ryan?"

He pulled out a cell phone and the screen blazed to life in the dark road. "He lives a few blocks over. I'll give him a call and let him know we're coming." Connor hit a few buttons on his phone and put it to his ear as we started walking. After a few moments, he hung up the phone and switched to a jog.

"No one home."

It could be a coincidence, but the dread in the pit of my stomach was telling me we were already too late. I kept up Connor's pace as he led us into a nearby neighborhood. The houses were small, but neat. Almost all of them were single stories on rectangle lots. Small front yards, with longer backyards.

"It's just up ahead." Connor said as we rounded another block.

In the distance, I could tell exactly which house we were heading towards. The one with all of the black car's in front of it. Ranger had beaten us here. I grabbed Connor's arm and pulled him off the street so we wouldn't be seen. We were moving through back yards, peeking around houses and working our way closer to Ryan's house. Connor stayed near my side, his eyes narrowed and calculating.

A small party of black clad RangeMen were milling around in the front yard and I was guessing from the open door that some were inside too.

"Who are they?" Connor asked, as we ducked into a pair of bushes near the fence roping off Ryan's backyard from his neighbors.

"They're good guys too." I told him, not wanting him to accidentally shot anyone on our side. "We just had different ideas about how to find Ryan is all."

We watched the house for a while and I saw Ranger and Julie pass in front of a window. From the looks on their faces, I was guessing no one was home. We were too late. Ryan wasn't here and he hadn't answered his phone. They already had him.

I was just trying to figure out what my next move should be when there was a loud bang, which nearly stopped my heart. Ryan's house was one of the few on the block with an above ground second floor, that second floor was now on fire. The back yard littered with debris from the explosion.

"What are you doing?" I heard Connor yell after me, but didn't stop to answer as I vaulted myself over the fence and took off across the yard, hell bent on finding Julie.

I kicked in the back door in and ducked into the smoke. The house was abuzz with noise. Flames crackled from upstairs, I could hear wood creak as the supports in the house weakened. Men from the front yard were yelling and calling orders while they evacuated their friends from inside. I found Julie and Ranger in the kitchen.

Ranger was out cold, a gash on his forehead told me he'd been hit pretty hard. Julie was awake, but disoriented struggling weakly. She had a few small cuts, but looks mostly unharmed. They were both partly buried under part of the second floor, which had fallen in the explosion and trapped them.

"Shilo?" Julie asked, as I grabbed her arm. She was yelling; no doubt, her ears were ringing. She tried to push herself forward and yelped in pain.

"Don't move." I told her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I've got you." Her legs were caught under a pile of wood and I had no way of telling how badly she was injured. I check Ranger for a pulse and was glad to find one. I called over my shoulder, trying to catch someone's attention, but over the noise in the house I was doubting anyone could hear me.

Julie tugged on my pants leg. "Shilo the flames."

Julie nodded behind me were we could see flames at the top of the stairs. I threw my weight against the largest of the boards trapping Julie and Ranger and fought against the dark thoughts in my head. Even if I could get them free, there was no way I could carry them both. I was having flash backs of my childhood home burning down, betting they'd used the same type of explosion just to spite me.

I pushed again and the board inched backwards. Julie was clawing at the smaller debris, trying to help me free them. Smoke was making my eye's water and I choked on the thick smog.

"It won't move." I threw myself at it again, clawing at the wood for all I was worth.

"Shilo get out of here." Julie said, pushing against my leg. "The fire's coming, you have to leave us." The flames were still at the stairs so we had a little time. No way I was leaving her in here.

I threw myself against the board again and nearly cried when it didn't move. I was to light, I wasn't strong enough to free them. Then a heard a grunt and someone else threw themselves against the board and it gave way. I glanced over my shoulder and found Tank. He was covered in soot and sweat, and there was a burn on his right shoulder. We shared a moment of understanding where we agreed to set aside our differences until everyone was safe. Basically, he agreed not to kick my ass until we were all outside.

With Tank's help, we were able to pull both Julie and Ranger free of the wreckage. Tank tossed Ranger across his shoulders easily and nodded towards Julie. "Can you carry her?" He asked.

I hooked an arm under hers and pulled her to her feet. She was favoring her right ankle. "I'm fine." I called back. Adrenalin was an amazing thing. I hadn't been able to move the beam, but I felt like I could move mountains. Tank was leading the way towards the front door when another groan above us signaled that the second floor was coming down. There was a loud crunch over our heads and the ceiling gave out. I yanked Julie backwards, while Tank lunged forwards.

Julie clung onto me as I pulled myself back to my feet and tried to think through the fog. Tank was calling out for us from the other side of the burning rubble, but I couldn't make him out. Julie hit my shoulder to get my attention and yelled the word 'backdoor' in my ear.

I nodded and started to walk forward. The second fall seemed to have taken its toll on Julie's leg and she collapsed next to me as it gave out under her weight. I hooked an arm under her knee and pulled her up onto my back before charging blind in the direction of the backdoor. Julie's hands tightened around my neck and she stuck her face in my hair. I held onto her leg's for all I was worth. Either we were both getting out or we were going to die trying.

We got outside and gasped at the cleaner air and in my haste, I tripped down the porch steps. Julie and I crashed in a heap on the grass and I scrambled to pull us both father away from the burning house before the whole thing came down. We were halfway across the yard when I felt someone grab my arm and yank me roughly back a step.

I looked up, expecting to find an angry RangeMan, but instead came face to face with John O'Donnell. Gavin and a couple of other men were with him and behind them; I could see a black van parked on the road behind Ryan's house. There was no one else here. I could hear sirens in the distance, and when I opened my mouth to scream I choked on the smoke in my lungs. Trapped.

"We knew you'd come here." John said grabbing a fist full of my hair when I tried to jerk away from him. I cried out as he ripped it from the pins holding it up. "Grab her." He ordered, nodding in the direction of Julie. "Bring her with us."

I kicked out at him, but with my adrenaline wearing off he easily sidestepped it. He jerked me forward by my hair, pulling more of it free and slapped me. The hit knocked me back and split my lip. I spit out blood.

"Get your hands off her." I heard Julie shout as she struggled against whoever had grabbed her. I shook my head to clear it and felt my hands get bound behind my back. Another hand wrapped around my chest and I was pulled off my feet.

Julie and I were dragged towards the van and I watched as Julie was thrown in the back ahead of me. I managed to twist around in my captor's hands and got a solid kick to John's leg. Someone pulled on my hair again, but I was beyond feeling the pain. Ryan's house was burning, sirens were wailing and I was wondering why Tank hadn't sent anyone to the backyard to look for us.

A felt a pair of prong stick me in the side and a sharp sizzle before the lights went out. The last thing I remember hearing was the sound of a gun discharging.

* * *

><p>~Darkrose<p>

R&R

Question 7- Have you ever been stun-gunned?


	10. Chapter 10

I've never been stun-gunned. Yippy! I did get hit with pepper spray once though. It was an accident, my friend had a key-chain bottle of the stuff and she stepped on it while her bag was on the floor near my head and the tip broke off. Shit burns!

* * *

><p>"Te Amo"<p>

Chapter 10

**Pov- Julie**

I landed hard on my side as I was tossed into the van and twisted to my back so I could see what was going on. I watched one of O'Donnell's men, stun gun Shilo before she collapsed. My ears were ringing, but somewhere in the background, I heard a gun discharge over the roar of the fire. One of O'Donnell's men went down; blood on his chest, and the others all flew into action. One returned fire then they all jumped into the front of the van and took off.

My hands had been bound in front of me and my ankle felt like it was on fire. I didn't think it was broken, but it hurt, bad. I managed to push myself closer to Shilo and looked her over for injuries. She was laying, passed out on her side and her hair had fallen in her face. A little singed, a little battered, but she didn't look to worse for wear all things considered. Her lip was split and blood was drying on her shirt.

"Shilo?" I pushed myself up and sat next to her, brushing her knotted hair away from her face. I shook her shoulder gently. "Shilo?" Nothing. She was out cold.

I looked around trying to take stock of what we had. I'd lost my gun in the explosion and I didn't see one on Shilo. Someone must have grabbed it when they stunned her. She had a collection of knifes around her waist and one in her boot. I was surprised they'd left her armed.

The only source of light we had was the flashing of streetlights we passed, coming in through two square windows in the van's back doors. The rest of the van had been striped clean. I could hear O'Donnell and his men talking through the wall that connected us to the front cab, but I couldn't make out any of their words.

I scooted over to the doors and found them locked tight, there were no handles on the inside and no emergency tabs to pull. This van had been built to keep people locked in the back. I tried to push myself up, so I could see out of the window's and get a feel for what direction we were moving, but my ankle wouldn't take my weight and I fell back down.

The van was moving fast and after only ten minutes, it slowed to a sharp stop. I heard doors slam and more voices. They were coming to the back of the van. I pulled myself over by Shilo and grabbed one of her knifes. It was difficult trying to hold the knife while my wrists were tied together and the metal wire dug into my skin.

I moved myself between Shilo and the door to give myself the best point of protecting us. The door opened and someone shined a flashlight in my face. I blinked through the light then it was lowered to shine over Shilo too. O'Donnell and his men looked in on us; two of them had guns drawn.

"Put that down, stupid girl."

I scowled as O'Donnell spoke, but didn't lower my weapon. What was the point? They were going to kill us anyway. O'Donnell nodded at one of his men and he lunged forward grabbing my bad ankle.

I hissed as pain shot up my leg and slashed out with the knife. One of the men laughed at me as I fell out of the back of the van and landed hard on the ground. My vision blurred as more pain shot to my head. I lost my grip on the knife and it slid away across the pavement.

"Search them both." O'Donnell ordered. "Leave everything behind."

The man, who had pulled me from the car, grabbed my joined wrists and yanked me to my feet. I sunk my teeth into my bottom lip to keep from whimpering in pain. He stuck his gun to the underside of my jaw and smirked at me.

"Now be a good girl and stay still." He said.

It didn't take long for me to figure out why. Another pair of hands started to pull at my clothes searching for weapons. I shivered as unfamiliar hands tugged at my waist and removed my utility belt. They emptied my pockets, tossing my phone onto the pavement along with everything else. I was stripped of my socks and shoes. Hands wondered over my body slower then they needed to and I snarled when the man searching me grabbed at my chest.

"Stop playing with her and hurry up."

My eyes cut to the man who had spoken in my defense. I recognized him from his interview with Shilo. Gavin Lynch. I narrowed my eyes at him. Once my captor had finished feeling me up and was convinced I didn't have anything hidden in my underwear, my hands were retied behind my back and a gag was tied around my mouth.

"There you see?" The man holding onto me said patronizingly. "That wasn't so hard." He jerked his chin towards the van. "Get the other one."

I was passed off to another man who grabbed a hold of my hair and forced me to my knees. I felt the barrel of a gun poke into the back of my head so I stayed silent. Ranger would be able to track my phone to this location, but what did we do next? Shilo was pulled from the van, still asleep, and searched. They added her knives, shoes, and socks to the floor before emptying her pockets.

"Hurry it up," O'Donnell shouted from the front of the van.

Shilo was gagged, then moved back into the van quickly and I was glad her search hadn't been quite as through as mine. I probably wouldn't have been able to stop the snarky muttering if one of them had felt her up in her sleep. As is was, I was memorizing faces so that if I had the chance I could personally see to the end of each man that had touched her. Apparently, I had a possessive, jealous side when it came to Shilo.

I was yanked to my feet and shoved face first back into the van. The doors slammed shut behind us and I heard a lock snap in place. The van rumbled to life and we were off again. I pushed myself back to a sitting position since it hurt to lie on my hands and moved to Shilo's side. I didn't want her to freak out when she woke up.

It took another fifteen minutes, but finally Shilo moaned. She wiggled a bit and fought against her bonds before she started coughing. She choked on the gag and her eyes flew open, wide with confusion and fear. She met my stare and calmed down.

She glanced around the van before looking back to me. I wish I could have said something, but I was having some trouble breathing around the gag to so I chose to remain silent. Shilo seemed to understand and I watched as she pulled herself up into a sitting potion as well.

She slid away from me and for a moment, I was worried I'd done something wrong. Then she rolled onto her back and managed to get her legs through her tied arms so her hands were in front of her. I smiled around the gag when she looked back at me. Smart girl. I wasn't that flexible, even without my bad ankle I don't think I could have done that.

She pushed herself back to my side and pulled the gag from my mouth. It hung around my neck. She pulled her own gag free and took a couple of deep breaths.

"Let me guess." She said softly. "We're locked in the back of O'Donnell's van?"

I nodded.

"We've been stripped of our weapons." She continued, glancing down to her empty belt. "I'm kind of glad I missed that part."

I shivered at the memory of calloused fingers on my skin and she looked up sharply. "One of them touched you." She guessed.

"It wasn't that bad." I promised her. "You just have much softer hands."

My comment got a little grin from her like I'd hoped it would. Then her face fell and she looked down at her lap. "I'm so sorry I've dragged you into this Julie." She said softly. "You have to believe that I never meant too."

"You say that like we're already dead."

She shrugged and leaned against the side of the van, letting her head thunk backwards against the wall. "Might as well be." She said disheartened. "I'm pretty sure I've used up my nine lives."

"Stop that." I said. "We'll figure a way out of this."

When she didn't respond I moved to her side. She pressed back when I leaned into her and her foot bumped my bad ankle. I hissed and she jumped away an inch.

"Your ankle, I'm sorry."

I shook my head, bit back the pain and moved back into her side. "It's ok, just a bad sprain I think."

She was silent for a minute before she looked back to me. "Ryan was already gone?" She guessed. "I saw you and Ranger through the window."

I nodded. "Yeah, he was gone when we got there. There was a half-eaten sandwich at the table and the front door was unlocked. A couple of chairs had been overturned. Looks like they caught him by surprise, but he put up a fight on the way out."

She nodded, then I watched as she looked over the van. Probably checking for the same things, I had.

"There's no handle." I said, when she glanced at the door. "No emergency tabs either."

She nodded. "I didn't really expect there to be."

She relaxed back again, and pressed into my side. There was no noise coming from the front of the cab and the rumble of the van was oddly soothing. I let my mind wonder and found myself worrying about my Dad and the guys. Ranger had been hurt. How many had gone to the hospital? Had everyone gotten out of the house?

"Do you think Ranger and Tank got out ok?" I asked.

Shilo glanced up at my face. Her eyes were cautious and calculating. "I don't know." She said honestly. "I hope so. Was anyone upstairs?"

I nodded. "Yeah, but I'm not sure who. Ranger had a couple of the guys going through the house."

She grimaced. "I was in the backyard when the explosion happened. The second floor was a mess."

I nodded not trusting myself to speak. I was running through a list of names. Ranger was hurt, but he'd been down stairs. I could remember seeing Tank. Steph and Hector had been out by the cars. Had Lester gone up stairs? Who else had been there? Ram was there, he'd come in with Cesar and Vince. Had Bobby and Col. Lowry showed up yet?

I hadn't realized she'd called my name until Shilo touched my cheek. She whipped away a single tear that had broken past my walls and dared to roll down my face.

"I hope they're all ok."

The van rumbled on for what felt like hours. I was past exhausted, but didn't trust to fall asleep. The pain in my ankle had faded to a throb as long as I didn't move. We both reeked of smoke and our clothes were singed. Finally, the van started to slow down and it felt like we were turning onto a driveway.

"Do you have any regrets?" Shilo asked softly.

I glanced over at her face, wondering what thoughts had led to her question. "About what?"

"Anything," She said.

I shook my head. "No" I didn't believe in living with regrets. You had to own up and take responsibility for the things you did in life and life was too short to pass up on the things you wanted. I regretted nothing, except maybe having dropped my gun in the explosion.

"I do," She continued. "Actually, I have a lot of them." The van stopped and Shilo shifted closer to me as we heard doors open and close from the cab. "I don't know why they brought you here," She continued. "and I'm sorry you're in danger again because of me."

I opened my mouth to tell her this wasn't her fault, but she caught me off guard. Her lips pressed against mine and I felt another tear roll down my face at the pain I felt from her. The usual heat between us was gone and left in its place was the bitter truth that this could be the last time I ever saw her. "The chances of me leaving this house are very slim." She said bluntly, as she pulled back, and I choked up. Was she trying to say goodbye? "I would have regretted not doing that."

The doors swung open and another flashlight shined in on us. Shilo had pulled back when the doors open and she growled when her eyes locked on John O'Donnell.

"Alright ladies." He said pleasantly. "Time to get out."

Two men were standing behind him with guns drawn to make sure we behaved ourselves. He waved his flashlight at me, signaling I should get out. I started to scoot forward and hissed when I moved my ankle. Apparently, someone thought I was moving too slowly. A rough hand reached in to grab me and I felt Shilo jump.

She tackled the man who'd grabbed at me and they both went down hard. Shilo swung at him as best she could, with her tied hands, and when I moved to join her Gavin grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the van. He locked one strong arm around my chest to keep me from moving and used the other one to hold a gun to my side.

Shilo was cursing, her words switching back and forth between English, and what was probably, Celt. John gave his man a chance to fight her, but when it became obvious he was losing, he moved forward and swiftly kicked Shilo hard in the ribs.

I heard her gasp of pain as she fell sideways and struggled against Gavin's hold to try and reach her. "Don't move." He said sharply, tightening his hold on me almost painfully. Two men grabbed Shilo and dragged her to her feet before they re-tied her hands behind her back.

John moved in front of her and smiled when she tried to kick him. He nodded to one of the men holding Shilo and then he sucker punch her in the gut. Shilo stopped fighting, her head hung as she struggled to regain her breath. John fixed her gag and I was mildly disappointed she didn't try to bite him. When he tried to fix mine, I sunk my teeth into his finger and tasted blood.

He cursed and yanked his hand away before backhanding me. I would have made a comment about how he hit like a girl, except for the gash his ring had left behind on my chin. O'Donnell glowered at me for a moment before nodding at Gavin over my shoulder. "Take her inside, chain her up. She'll come in handy later if her dear old Daddy make any attempt to stop us."

Then he looked over at the two men with Shilo. "Take her downstairs."

They were splitting us up? I struggled against Gavin's hold, too worn out to really give it a good effort, but not willing to go down without trying. I could hear Shilo fighting back to, but couldn't see her as she was pulled away in the opposite direction.

During my struggles I tried to take stock of where we were. This had to be the house in Point Pleasant. I could smell salt on the air, even if I couldn't see the ocean. The house was huge, three stories, old brink lots of fancy ass columns.

Gavin dragged me up a set of old stairs. He'd put his gun away in order to use both hands against my struggles. "Would you knock it off?" He asked, his voice gruff and thick with his accent.

"Never," I vowed breathlessly.

"You're hurt," He said muscling me up another few steps. "You're going to permanently mess up that ankle if you don't try to take it easy while you have the chance."

I snarled at him as we hit the landing and he started pulling me down the hallway. "Like you even care."

"I don't," He rolled his eyes. "It was just a suggestion."

We passed several doors and I caught sight of the ocean out of a large window. "Why am I here?" I asked.

"Convenience," Gavin said. "It's unfortunate you were with Shilo when O'Donnell spotted her. Consider yourself lucky; until he realized who you were, his orders were to shoot you."

He fumbled with a doorknob and we entered a large spacious bedroom. The walls were bare and it looked like some of the furniture had been removed. Gavin tossed me onto the ground near the end of the bed and pulled out his gun again.

I glared up at him from the floor trying to look menacing but probably only pulling off desperate and hopeless. I was so tired I was shaking, my teeth chattered from the adrenalin let down and pain was making my eye's water.

"Work with me and I'll put the shackle on your good ankle." He promised. "But, if you take a snap at me I'll finish breaking the other one."

I nodded, at a loss for anything else I could do. Gavin holstered his gun, and leaned down. I hadn't noticed the length of chain until he picked it up. One end was bolted under the bed the other ended in a thick gray shackle.

As promised Gavin hooked it to my good ankle before gently lifting back the end of my pants so he could see the other. It was swollen and bruised. "I'm not a medic." He said. "But stay off it, this chain will let you reach the bathroom." He added, pointing over his shoulder where I could see another door. "Try soaking it in cold water."

I didn't know why he was helping me, but I agreed that the advice was sound. If I thought I was strong enough to move I'd go do it now.

"What do they want with Shilo?" I asked.

Gavin shrugged and hooked an arm around me, pulling me up so I was sitting on the edge of the bed. "Don't know." He said easily. "My advice would be to forget about her and the boy. You're a bargaining chip, work on making sure you don't get killed in the negotiation."

"I won't forget about her."

Gavin shrugged. "Suit yourself." He said. "You'll be lucky if they live through the night." With that reassuring statement, he stood and left the room, closing the door behind himself. I heard a lock tumble and waited two breaths to make sure I was alone before the damn broke and big fat tears rolled down my face.

I had planned to search the room, see how far my chain could go, see if I could find anything to free myself with. I had planned to go try and treat my ankle with cold water. In reality, I cried for ten seconds before utter exhaustion took over and I fell into darkness.

**Pov- Shilo**

The feeling of being numb wasn't exactly a new sensation to me, but it had been a long time since I'd felt this disconnected to the world around me. The feeling had started with the fire. Taking over my body, trying to protect myself before I'd know that Julie was alive. Then waking up in the van, disarmed and weak I'd realized that my luck had finally run out.

I'd been stupid to think I could rescue Ryan alone. I'd always been the type to act first and think later. I didn't like to waste my time on plans when ninety percent of the time you had to throw them out the window anyway.

When I'd felt the van slow down I couldn't stop myself from insuring I got one last kiss from her. I poured everything I had into it, unable to actually tell her goodbye. I regretted so many things in my life. I'd done things I wasn't proud of, I'd missed opportunities that I'd never get back. I regretted not having discovered the truth about Ryan in time to save him. However, as she was being dragged away from me, I realized that the thing I regretted most in my life was that I'd ultimately led her to death as well.

I could live with having gotten myself caught. I was rash and stubborn. I should have known I'd get caught, I almost deserved it. I could even live with knowing I'd failed Ryan. After all, I'd done everything in my power to get to him first. I couldn't live with knowing I'd failed Julie. I'd find a way to make sure she got out of this.

I watched as Julie was taken away through the front door of the old mansion we'd stopped at and noted the scent of salt in the air. We must be near the ocean. I didn't have the strength or the breath to fight as I was yanked away in the other direction and taken into the house by a side door.

We traveled down a flight of stairs into what looked more like a dungeon then a basement. The room I was taken to was gray. Cement floor, cement walls, and open rafters in the ceiling with bare bulbs dangling on chains.

The left side of the room was bare except for a set of chairs and a card table that probably housed guards while they had prisoners. Along the other side of the room were four individual cells, set side by side. Gray iron bar walls and thick silver steel doors. Someone had spent a lot of time making sure captives would know they were in deep shit when they got to this room.

I was given two minutes to use the bathroom under supervision, a task alone that was more degrading then anything I'd ever done before. Once I'd finished I wasn't even given the chance to wash my hands before getting dumped into one of the cells like some kind of animal. A short chain was secured around my right ankle and my wrists were left untied.

I jumped when the cell door was slammed shut, the sound of ringing metal echoed off the walls. Then I watched as all of our captors left the room, shut the door and listened as a bolt slid home. Guess they were going to let me stew for a bit before they killed me. Great.

I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding and groaned, finally give myself the chance to look over my injuries. Various parts of my body throbbed and I still reeked of smoke. My clothes were singed, my lip had torn back open when I'd jumped the man who'd tried to touch Julie and it felt like John had managed to crack at least one of my ribs. Overall, I'd been in worse shape before, but I wouldn't have said no to a hot bath or an ice pack.

"What are you in for?"

The only thing that kept me from shrieking aloud was my military training and as it was, I jumped again, my nerves shot by the 'day from hell' I'd just had. I hadn't realized that someone was in the cell next to me. Leaning against the far wall of the cell was Ryan. He had his back to the bar's one leg laid out in front of him. As he looked me over, I noted a green guitar pick between his teeth.

He'd been worked over pretty well. His face and arms were dotted with darkening bruises. He was sporting a black eye and there was blood on his shirt. His brown hair was shaggy and sticking up in places where it looked like he had been tugging on it. When he caught my eye, I found myself staring into green eyes identical to my own. All of us kids had gotten our dad's green eyes.

"Ryan?" I breathed the word making it come out more like a question even though I was sure it was him. It couldn't have been anyone else.

He cocked his head to the side and raised an eyebrow. "Do I know you?"

I almost laughed, he didn't recognize me. Why would he? I'd only been nine years old the last time he'd see me. I'd changed a lot since then. For starters, I'd grown nearly two and a half feet and my boobs had come in.

"You better," I said. "You saved my life fifteen years ago."

He was silent for a moment and I watched his face while he pieced it all together. He moved stiffly to the side of my cage, getting a closer look. I knew I was a mess. Bruised, blood covered, my hair all over the place from getting ripped out and stun-gunned. I hope that he could see past all of that. I saw comprehension flash behind his eyes and then he frowned at me. "Is this some kind of a joke?" He asked darkly. "Did they purposely send you in here to try and break me?"

I whipped at the blood on my lip and rolled my eyes. "You think I'd let them work me over this well just to trick you?"

"Shilo? Is it possible?"

I nodded. "Long time no see."

He sat there and stared at me, dumbfounded, for a long time before he found his voice again. "You died." He said his voice a whisper.

"No," I argued. "You died. It's a long story."

"You have somewhere else to be?" He asked sarcastically, motioning to the room around us.

I glanced around at the bar room and the steel door. Even if I had somewhere else to be, it wasn't likely I'd get there. "I guess not."

"Start at the beginning." He said.

"Do you remember Dad's friend Col. Lowry?"

He nodded. "Vaguely, yes."

"Did he come to you at the hospital after the fire?"

Ryan nodded. "I remember seeing him once. He was the one who introduced me to the family that took me in. I never saw him again after that."

I nodded, putting of the urge I had to learn about the family who'd adopted him. Hopefully, we'd have time for that later. I continued my story, keeping it short. Col. Lowry had adopted me and tricked us each into believing the other had passed away. I skipped though most of my childhood, touching on small details, finally arriving to my trip to Trenton.

"You willingly came to work on a case when you knew the O'Donnell's were there?" He asked. "Are you stupid?"

I scowled at him. "You're telling me you're not curious?" I shot back. "I want to know what they want. We deserve to know why we have no family, why they attacked us. We have a right to know why they hate us so much."

"It's not us," He said. "When they talked to me earlier they kept asking me questions about Grandma Cleona. You wouldn't know her, she passed away when you were a baby."

I shook my head. "No, I know her." I'd done enough research on my family that even though I couldn't remember ever actually meeting her, I knew who she was. She was actually our great grandmother on our father's side. "What do they want with her? They have to know that she's dead. She'd be like 140 by now."

He shrugged. "I'm not sure. I think they're looking for something that she had or used to have. Like they expect us to know where her belongings ended up? Really, I just tuned most of the interrogation out."

I nodded, but said nothing. My thoughts had strayed upstairs, wondering where Julie was and if they'd mistreated her in anyway. I don't know how long I worried over her, but eventually Ryan broke the silence.

"Shilo, come here."

He was still sitting at the side of my cell, his forehead resting against one of the bars. He reached out a hand to me and I slid closer to the edge of the cage. I stopped once I was sitting next to him and he reached through the bars to take my hand.

"I still can't believe you're alive." He said. "All this time, I thought I'd failed you."

I squeezed his finger. "You didn't fail." I told him. "I'm alive and well all thanks to you. I know I'm a few years late saying this, but thank you for saving me."

He smirked and pulled me forward, my forehead against the bars, so he could kiss the top of my head. "No problem sis. Now we've just got to find a way out of here. I noticed a cellar door at the end of the hallway. That will probably be the fastest way out."

I pulled out of his hold and moved far enough back so that he could see my face. "If you get the chance to run, you'd better do it." I told him. "I'll help you if I can, but one of my friends is upstairs somewhere. They caught us together and I won't leave her here to die for me."

**Pov- Stephanie**

"So far we haven't had any luck finding her, Bombshell." Bobby explained, the grumble in his voice telling me he didn't particularly care either way. I knew several of the men were sore over the news that Shilo had lied to them. In reality, I think they were mostly just ticked off that she'd put Julie and the rest of the team in danger. "We had Hal's team flash her photo at the bars, but no one they talked to had seen her."

I nodded along, continuing my pacing across the front yard of Ryan Thatch's house. Col Lowry had been able to confirm the ID of the boy we believed to be Shilo's brother, but at the moment, no one was home.

"Alright, thanks for the update Bobby." I said.

"No problem; let us know if you find anything at the house. Col. Lowry's getting antsy, I'm not positive he'll wait the agreed 48 hours."

I promised I would call with news and hung up my phone. Ranger, Julie and a few of the guys had gone inside to look around. We decided a small team would be better. They could be quick and thorough without leaving a million different fingerprints behind.

Hector was leaning up against the side of the SUV we'd driven here and I could tell without looking that he was watching me. "Bobby didn't have anything new." I told him, as I passed by on my pacing path.

"Shilo, not the one we have to worry about." He said easily. "I'm more worried that Ryan's not home. I feel we are already too late."

"He could be over at a friend's house." I said hopefully. "Or with Connor since he wasn't home either, maybe the bands having a late practice?"

"Not likely."

Party pooper. As much as I didn't like it, I think everyone had agreed that we'd arrived too late to protect Ryan. The front door had been unlocked when we arrived and we had signs of a struggle inside. The only good thing was that, sign's of a struggle, meant that Ryan had been alive when he was taken from the house. At least they hadn't just shot him and left him for rot.

I turned to cross the yard again, when a blast from the house nearly knocked me off my feet. I'd seen enough explosions in my time to recognize the boom and hadn't even realized I'd started moving until Hector caught me around the waist and started dragging me away from the burning house.

"Carlos!" Fear griped my voice throwing it an octave higher then it would normally be as every nerve in my body was screaming to find Carlos and pull him out of the house.

I fought against Hector's lock hold, but even with the defense training I had gotten since joining RangeMan, I'd never been able to beat him. "No Bonita." He said quickly, keeping me locked against his chest. His lips near my ear so I could hear him over the flames and the shouts of the men as they sprung into action. "Let the guys find him."

I never stop trying to get away, but Hector managed to drag me near the road and placed us between two of the SUV's. I could see a couple of the guys on phones. Probably calling paramedics, and firemen, and head quarters. In my head, I was adding the Navy, the Marines, heck throw in a phone call to God just get them out of the house! I never figured we would need Bobby during this search.

"Hector we have to help." I pressed desperately. "Julie and Ranger are inside that-." My voice broke off as I looked over the house, really seeing the damage for the first time.

Most of the flames were in the front left half of the second floor, the roof had been blown off and flaming piles of debris now littered the yard. I watched the front door as Lester appeared. Ram was leaning heavily against his side, but they both looked alive.

"I won't let you go inside." Hector vowed. "Ranger wouldn't want you to risk getting hurt while his condition is still unknown."

"I've been hurt lots of times." I reminded him. "I'm a walking magnet for trouble, everyone knows that. My car's blow up, I fall in dumpsters." I'd taken a couple of bullets from aggressive skips in the past and I'd had more than one distraction go south. None of that had ever stopped me from making sure that Ranger was ok before, or getting right back out in the field. Persistence is my motto.

"If something's happened to Ranger you need to keep yourself safe for the sake of the boy's." Hector said, pulling on the one heartstring that would be more important to me than Ranger's safety.

There was a reason that Ranger and I never went on high-risk captures together. We had vowed when we'd first agreed to try starting a family that we would never risk leaving our children orphaned. Unfortunately, with our line of work it was something we'd seen happen before.

I stopped fighting and Hector relaxed his hold on me, understanding that I wouldn't try to run again. He stayed near my side and let me hold onto his arm while we continued to watch the fire. My eyes were locked on the front door, waiting to see more of the men get out.

While we watched, I found myself absentmindedly hanging onto the locket Ranger had given me for the boy's first birthday. The little gold oval held a picture of each of our son's. Their names inscribed behind the photos. Unknown to Ranger I'd had his name added to the back the next year. This way I could carry all three of my boy's near my heart whenever I left the house.

Needing to move and feel useful, I walked over to where Lester and Ram had been moved to check on them for myself. Lester looked alright, except for some coughing. Ram had a nice burn across the right side of his body but he was alive enough to glare at the man treating him.

"Are you both alright?" I asked. Hector stood guard nearby, offering me moral support and acting as a block in case I lost my mind and raced for the house again.

Lester nodded stiffly. "Fine, blast caught us off guard though."

"We didn't see any explosive device on our first walk through of the inside." Ram said, wincing as Woody rubbed salve on his burn. "I was at the top of the stairs when it blew. I don't know where Vince and Caesar are."

"Did you see Ranger or Julie?"

Lester's eyes flashed back to the house. "They haven't come out yet?"

"No."

"We passed Tank on his way inside." Ram said. "He'll find them."

A few moments later, we could hear sirens in the distance and Nabors had come outside to see the destruction. Then a commotion at the side of the house caught my attention and a couple of the guys appeared out of the smoke, carrying Vince between them.

Out of all of the men who'd appeared so far he was in the worse shape. A few of the other guys raced forward to help move him. I watched as his pulse was taken and a thumbs up went out to let everyone know he was still alive.

When the ambulances started arriving, I took charge. I ordered the RangeMan car's to be moved down the block by anyone in good enough shape to drive and directed the first paramedics to Vince. He was loaded up immediately and carried away. I forced Ram onto the next ambulance, only letting Lester stay because he wasn't bleeding.

"Look," He said pointing back towards the house.

There was a sick groan, so loud you could hear it over the crackling fire and another part of the roof caved in. Fear gripped me again, hopping that none of our guys had been under it. How long would the house stay up? Where was Carlos?

A few moments later Tank emerged from the smoke through the front door, with Ranger over his shoulders. He stumbled on the stairs and paramedics rushed to pull them both away from the fire as hoses were pulled out and water started to put out the flames. I pushed past the officer who tried to block me and launched myself to their sides.

"Ranger?" I shook his shoulder, fear gripping me when he didn't open his eyes. "Carlos!"

"He's alive." Tank said, his voice gruff with smoke as he coughed. I kept one hand on Carlos's shoulder, not willing to let go of him yet, as the paramedics started to look him over and turned to Tank. He looked alright, a burn on his shoulder, a little battered.

"Are you alight?" I asked, feeling bad that I hadn't checked on him sooner, but knew he'd understand my desperation to check on Carlos first.

He nodded. "I'll live."

"What about Julie?" I asked. "Did you find her inside, she hasn't come out yet."

He nodded, having to turn his head as another fit of coughing shook him. "She was with Ranger. They were trapped in the kitchen. Shilo was in there, don't know where she came from. We got them out, then we got separated when the second floor came down, they were blocked off. They'll probably try to get out the backdoor."

I was off and running before he'd even finished speaking. I heard Hector yell for me and laid on all the speed I had. Ranger was hurt, but alive, and that information gave me the confidence to start worrying about the others. Now I had to find Julie. I cut through the next yard over, ignoring the officers and fire fighters who called after us. They were setting up blockades to keep people off the crime scene.

Hector caught me as I reached for the fence. "What are you doing?" He shouted, pulling me back down.

"Julie's back here. Help me!"

He stopped fighting me and instead pushed me over the top of the fence. I landed hard and fell to my knees, ducking instinctively when I heard gunfire. Hector landed, much more gracefully, at my side drawing his gun.

I pushed myself to my feet and followed him across the yard, pulling my own gun out as I took in the scene before us. Across the yard, it was hard to make out the different people running around through the smoke. A van peeled off down the street and we rushed to see what was going on.

Near the curb, we found a boy with white-blond hair, clutching at his leg, a gun near his feet. Hector moved to his side and pointed his gun at him. The boy jumped, but didn't move as he took in Hector's less then friendly appearance.

I spotted a body in the street and moved to it, quickly checking for a pulse. Dead. I noted the bracelet the dead man was wearing and recognized it as the Lynch crest, like the one we'd taken off Gavin. Before meeting Shilo, I never would have noticed it. Now, it gave me chills. Why were the Lynch's here? Why had their car raced off so quickly?

I moved to Hector's side, keeping my gun up and did the talking. This was how we normally worked. Hector was the muscle and the fear when we were in bad neighborhoods; I was the people-friendly figurehead who offered comfort to clients that would otherwise be scared of Hector. "Who are you?" I demanded.

The man in front of us was oddly familiar, thought I couldn't place him. Nearly six feet tall, blue eyes, there was blood soaking through his pants where he'd been hit. It wasn't a fatal wound so I didn't feel the need to rush medical treatment. Questions first, band-aid later.

"I'm Ryan's friend. I was working with Shilo." He said quickly, his eyes flickering down the road. "She said she knew you guys. Don't shoot me."

I nodded. "We know her."

"Then you have to help her." He pressed quickly. "The guys in that car came out of nowhere. They took her and this other girl away. I tried to stop them."

Hector caught my eye and I knew we were thinking the same thing. The O'Donnell's had found Shilo and they'd taken Julie too.

"Your name?" Hector said, collecting the gun on the ground.

"I recognize him." I said, finally recognizing where I'd seen his face before. "He's Connor Molony. The dead man's wearing the Lynch family crest."

Connor just nodded, "That's me."

I grabbed my phone and called Lester. I told him where we were, who we'd found and that he should bring a couple of officer's for the dead man. Fire Fighters were getting the blaze under control, but it looked like the entire house had already been destroyed.

It didn't take them long to find us, Morelli was with them. He raised an eyebrow at me as the other officers hurried to start collecting evidence before water from the fire trucks washed everything away.

"Long story," I started. "Shilo and Julie have been kidnapped."

Connor was carted around to the front of the house and I made sure he and Lester were both on an ambulance, promising to follow behind them. Joe listened patiently while I gave him the quick version of everything that had happened.

"Do you have any idea where they'd be headed?" He asked, referring to the van that had taken Shilo and Julie away.

I shook my head. "No, we know they have a house in Point Pleasant, but there's no way to know if they would go back there. I want to talk to Connor. He might have more information." He nodded and left to do his cop thing. I promised to call him if anything else came up.

Hector left an inch of rubber behind as soon as I hopped into the SUV. I wanted to get to the hospital and check on everyone who had been hurt.

* * *

><p>~Darkrose<p>

Yeah for my first attempt at Steph's pov! With everyone split up, we'll probably be seeing some of Ranger and more of Steph in the next few chapters as well. Let me know what you think. Your feedback gives me inspiration and proves to me that I'm not completely losing my mind.


	11. Chapter 11

So, I realized I didn't put a question in the last chapter so I have nothing to answer here. Instead, let me give a nice big thank you to my two most dedicated reviewers; FairTaxGirl and SwedenPixie who have been with me since the beginning of this journey. I don't know either of you ladies in real life, but your support of this story has helped me see a whole slew of adventures Julie can take and they keep me motivated. Thank you so much, and thank you to all of my reviewers. Enjoy.

* * *

><p>"Te Amo"<p>

Chapter 11

**Pov- Shilo**

"So," Ryan said carefully after a momentary pause in our conversation. "How important is this girl to you?"

I gaze up at him from my place on the ground. After our short connection last night I'd fallen into a deep, dreamless sleep pressed against the bar's while Ryan played with my hair. I wasn't sure if he'd gotten any sleep, since he'd been back in the same position when I woke up.

"Very important." I said honestly. "She's a great friend and she doesn't deserve to be here. I owe her a lot."

He smirked at me. "She sounds like more than just your friend."

I took a moment to study him. We'd been talking easily for the last hour. Mostly he was asking questions about the things I'd done at RangeMan and my military work. I asked about details here. Things like window placement and doors. Together, we were planning escape paths. He was watching me with a serious face, but he didn't seem concerned by the fact that I might be in love with another women. "Would that bother you?" I asked. If we were going to get to know each other, we might as well get this point out of the way.

He reached through the bars and took my hand, running his thumb over my knuckles. "Not even a little tiny bit." He promised, his smirk blowing into a big grin. "You could be a Giants fan for all I care. I'm still trying to get over the fact that you're alive."

I smirked at him. The fact that I was originally from New York hadn't come up yet. We could deal with that later. "Then in that case, yes, Julie is my lover. We never really got around to talking about a possible relationship before all of this happened. Her father hates me; he doesn't trust me, and all of her big bad military uncles probably want to kick my ass."

"You're going to be doing a lot of ass kissing then." He joked.

I blanched thinking he probably meant that to be funny, but it sounded just about right. Assuming we all lived through this; I was going to have to watch my step around Ranger for a while. "That's if he'll even let me live in the same state as her."

The lock tumbled in the dungeon room door and we both turned to watch. Ryan let go of my hand, but didn't pull away from me as one of the Lynch's I remembered from last night came in. Another man entered with him, but I didn't recognize him.

The unknown man drew a gun and leveled it at Ryan, while Lynch unlocked his cell door and motioned him out. "Bathroom break." He said. "Hurry it up."

Ryan left and I noted with a hint of rage that no one accompanied him into the bathroom. Perverts! Once Ryan was shackled back in his cell, they repeated the process with me. Lynch unlocked the door, came in and undid the shackle. If it wasn't for the gun I'd have tackled him and beaten the shit out of him.

I stood on my own, wincing slightly at my tender ribs and did my business as quickly as I could. When I sat back down in my cell, I felt something poke me from the inside of my bra. No way, I still had my little pocket knife! I hadn't noticed it earlier, I thought I'd lost it when they searched us. I kept my face blank while on the inside I did a happy dance.

The tinny knife had been a gift from Wild on our first mission. Folded, the blade was only two inches long. Extended, that little blade could rule the world. It had already saved my life more times than I could count.

My shackle was snapped back in place and my cell door locked. Lynch and his unknown gunman were on their way to the door when Lynch's cell phone rang. Lynch opened his phone and we all listened to his half of the conversation.

"Boss?"

He was silent for a moment. I scooted closer to the side of the cell, back into my place near Ryan.

"Yes, Sr." Lynch said. "We're here now." He glanced over his shoulder and looked at us. "Which one?"

Oh dang. Looks like it was my turn for questioning. I turned my back on Lynch catching Ryan's eye, hoping I could do this without drawing attention to myself. I'd been lucky not to lose my knife once. I was willing to bet that luck wouldn't favor me twice so I didn't want to bring it with into my interrogation.

As easily as I could, I snuck one hand up the front of my shirt while Lynch continued to speak on the phone. I maneuvered the tiny knife into my hand and then dropped my fist into my lap. Ryan rose as eyebrow at me, but didn't speak.

"Alright missy," Lynch said, rapping on the door to my cell. "Boss wants a word with you."

While he unlocked the door, I took Ryan's hand, passing the knife to him. Hopefully, Lynch would think of it as a farewell gesture or something sappy like that. Ryan's face didn't show any shock, but I noticed his shoulders stiffen as he realized what I'd done.

Ryan took his hand back and dropped them into his lap. Lynch's partner followed him into my cell and leveled his gun at me, while my shackle was removed once again.

"Get up." Lynch ordered.

There was little doubt in my mind that they would pull the trigger. Not to kill, if their boss wanted to speak with me they wouldn't kill me yet, but it would be harder to escape with a bullet wound. I stood, keeping my hands at my sides and followed Lynch out of the cell.

I followed silently, the unknown man kept his gun pressed to my back insuring that I didn't misbehave. We climbed a set of stairs to the main floor. I was able to see light out of the window's, but the large yard was surrounded by a high brick fence so it was impossible to see beyond the property.

It had been dark when we arrived so I was guessing we'd been missing for about twelve hours so far. The house was beautiful, decorated in old wood antiques and columns. Large open doorways were done up in arches, and there were oil paintings on the walls, rich and clean. Except for the fact that a mad man owned it and there was a dungeon in the basement, it would be a nice place to live.

I was memorizing window placement, counting doorways. The front door had several large locks on it and I saw the control panel for a high-grade security system. We passed by a large central staircase that led to the upper floors and I wondered if Julie was stashed somewhere up there. The house was huge; she could be anywhere.

I was escorted into what looked like the master's study in a Sherlock Holms book. A giant oak desk worked as the focal point and the room was dotted with bookshelves. Standing alone in the center of the room was metal chair with wrist cuffs attached. Personally, I thought the prisoners chair threw off the décor of the room, but what did I know, I wasn't into interior decorating.

Lynch nodded to the seat and when I didn't move right away his partner shoved me forward. Lynch grabbed my arm and spun me around, sitting me down and locking both of my wrists to the arms of the chair.

"As far as hospitality goes this place sucks." I commented dryly.

Lynch grinned and then he backhanded me. "Hospitality is the least of your worries right now little lady."

I sneered at him, thankful that he didn't hit hard. I was sick of getting smacked around. They both left the room and I sat in silence. My chair was bolted to the floor so I couldn't try to move it. The windows in this room all had sensors on them, probably the whole house was wired. Would Ranger be able to find us? I wasn't sure how quickly they would be able to come after us. For the moment, we would have to rely on ourselves.

I'm not sure how long I sat there, long enough for the sun to rise and my ass to fall asleep. Finally, the lock on the door rolled and two men came in. I recognized one as John O'Donnell, the other was a stranger to me.

"Good morning Shilo." John said pleasantly, his accent was very thick. "Sorry for the locks, you understand I'm sure."

I understood that John was bat shit nuts.

"This is my youngest brother, Keith." He continued. "You've met before of course, but you were very young back then."

"Actually," Keith interrupted, stepping forward. "I've never meet the lovely daughter. I was charged with getting rid of the father. The babies were your responsibility. I did my job, plus two of yours."

I glared at him. Keith was an inch shorter, a little thicker in the shoulders and his hair was a shade lighter. He was dressed in slacks and a pressed shirt. His shoes looked spit polished and if I understood right, he was the one who'd arranged my father's car accident.

"Yes yes," John said, waving him off. "We've already established that the fire was unsuccessful. I've corrected that little mistake, now. They are both safely in our custody. Besides, perhaps young Shilo will be more useful than her brother was. It may prove fruitful that my fire didn't kill them all off right away."

As their conversation started to make sense, I found my signature anger management problem start to act up. I swear I can usually control it, I do yoga, I eat right, I try to keep a regular sleeping pattern. You try listening to the men who killed your family and not get mad. I was rapidly approaching RAGE level, and I hadn't been that mad in a long time.

They fell silent as they watched me. I stayed silent, keeping my body relaxed and my eyes narrowed. I'd spent a week as a POW a couple of years ago and found that my best offence was a strong defense. Once they know you'll talk, the punishments for staying silent usually get worse. Just let them try to break me!

"Did you get the chance to speak with Ryan?" Keith asked. "We thought you might enjoy a little family reunion time." He was taunting me.

"Here's the deal." John said, moving closer to my side. He put a finger under my chin and lifted my head so I was forced to look at him. I fought the little smirk when I noted the bandage where Julie had bitten him. "You're going to answer our questions and help us in any way you can. In exchange, your death will be quick."

Yeah right. John's beady little black eyes shook with excitement. He was practically getting off on the control of this situation. He would kill me slowly and enjoy every moment of it.

Keith moved forward and showed me a picture. It was of my grandmother Cleona. "Do you know who this woman is?" He asked.

I remained silent.

"This woman stole something from our grandfather." Keith continued, not put off by my silence. "We want it back." Behind him, I watched the frown on John's face grow. Clearly, I was not providing the show he wanted.

I thought back to what I knew about my great grandmother. She'd died when I was almost three. I'd seen pictures of her before. I knew she'd owned a house in Dublin, which had been sold after her death. I knew she'd loved horses, at one point she'd owned several. That was about it.

Keith held out another photo. This one showed a sterling silver necklace. Hanging from the chain was a solid gold Celtic knot made out of thin twisted pieces of metal. Nestled in the center of the knot was a large, green emerald. The necklace was beautiful.

"Have you ever seen this necklace before?" Keith asked. "Your grandmother was the last known person to have it. Do you know where it is?"

Here's the funny part. I couldn't remember having ever meet my great grandmother. Her house was gone; all of her things were gone. Anyone who would have known her was probably dead or so close to dead it wouldn't matter. Here I was, on the other side of the world, locked in a room with two men who were interested in a piece of her jewelry, twenty years after her death. Why they wanted the necklace I didn't know. Sure, it was probably worth a lot, the emerald was huge, but it was still a dead woman's necklace.

What's the kicker you ask? I actually knew where the necklace was. What were the chances of that? Now how did I use that information to insure that Julie lived? Could I possibly haggle for Ryan's life too?

"Why do you want it?"

**Pov- Stephanie**

I was the first person to lock eyes with Bobby as he swept into the emergency room. He wasn't a resident doctor, but all of the staff at the hospital here knew to give him anything he wanted when it came to RangeMan employees. He moved swiftly to my side, noting the tears on my cheeks and the over protective Hector standing guard at my side.

"What's going on Bomber?" He asked quickly, "Tell me everything."

I nodded. "Ranger's getting a gash on his head stitched. He'll be ok. Several of the men are being treated for burns, Vince was the worse. He'll need skin grafts and a lot of recovery time. Tank's next with a shoulder burn, the other's are superficial. Ram's banged up, Lester's already demanding to be released."

He raised an eyebrow when I hesitated. Why was it everyone could do the eyebrow thing and I couldn't? "What else?" He asked. "There's more."

I took a deep breath and jumped head first into the bad news. "Caesar's still missing. He was in the house when it went up, and no one saw him get out."

There was a moment of silence while Bobby digested that fact. Caesar hadn't been found yet, but it was obvious where his body would eventually appear. It would take firefighters a while to be able to search through the rubble of the house.

I watched Bobby take a deep breath and the tension in his shoulders relaxed a bit. No one handled death as gracefully as Bobby did. He'd clearly seen a lot of it in his time. He saw it as part of life, not the crushing end I always viewed it as.

After another second, he nodded. "Alright," Then he jumped back to the topic at hand, doing what he could for the living. "The guy's are already on the hunt for Julie and Shilo. They got a trace on Julie's phone and went to go look. I wanted to come here before I joined them."

I nodded. "You should see if the doctor will let Lester leave yet and take him with you when you're ready. He's itching to hurt someone."

Bobby nodded. "I know the feeling."

Bobby left to do his medic thing and I turned back to talk with Hector who was dutifully still at my side. He probably wouldn't let me out of his sight until Ranger was awake. "Let's make another round. As soon as we've talked to Ranger we can join the hunt for Julie."

He nodded.

We found Lester first. He was sitting up, looking spitting mad. He'd changed out of his hospital gown since the last time I'd seen him and was back in clean RangeMan clothes. I passed him a cup of the coffee I'd snatched from the cafeteria and he took it silently, nearly downing it in a single go.

"You alright?" I asked.

He nodded once. "Bobby's talking to the doc for me."

"She'll be ok Les." I promised, more to assure myself then Lester. I'd become better at handling hard truths in the last several years, but the thought of losing Julie had me running to denial land as fast as I could. She would be fine, because she _had_ to be fine. There was no way that I'd let that wonderful girl leave this world before me. I would not watch Ranger bury his only daughter.

Next, we found Ram and Tank getting treated together. Ram was doped up on pain med's, so I let the doc work on him. Several of his burns had needed to have the dead skin scrubbed away and he had a collection of stitches.

Tank looked better. He'd refused strong med's, settling for a simple shot in order to stay alert, so that he could know what was going on. I filled him in on what was happening with everyone and the Julie hunt.

"Could you have Brown cut me lose too?" He asked. "Julie need's all of us."

I nodded. "I'll do what I can. Doc's probably going to put you in a brace to keep you from messing up your shoulder though."

Tank's eyes narrowed. "I've had worse. I want out. Julie needs us."

I promised to do what I could and refused to let Ram in the field. He was official benched until farther notice. I probably would have told Tank to sit this one out too except for the fact that I wanted Tank's help. Tank had known Julie her whole life; he deserved to help find her. Then there was the fact that I was afraid to tell Tank no.

I was about to leave the room when I stopped, I glanced back over at Tank and said. "Thank you. I didn't get a chance to say that earlier."

He gave me a small smile. "You don't have to thank me Bomber."

"You saved Carlos's life." I reminded him. "My boys still have a father because of you. Nothing I could ever do or say would be enough to show you what that means to me."

He nodded. "Ranger's saved my butt more times than I can count." He admitted. "I'd do it again, for any of them." There wasn't a doubt in my mind he'd do it again. Tank, Lester and Bobby were the best brother's Carlos could have asked for. The relationship between the four of them still astounded me and I'd had years to observe it.

I smiled and leaned over him to kiss his cheek. "Love you big guy."

Tank's phone was on the table near his bed and at that moment it started buzzing and ringing. I grinned. "That will be Lula. The nurse wouldn't let her up to see you yet. They want to wait on visitors until treatment's all done." I left the room as he answered the phone, giving him the chance to speak more privately.

Next, we found Connor. He'd been stitched up and checked over, if it hadn't been so late the hospital would have probably cleared him to leave already. After checking everyone in and making sure they were all still alive I'd spoken at length with Connor. He'd told me about meeting with Shilo and their walk over to Ryan's house.

"How are you feeling?" I ask him, offering him a glass of coffee.

He declined. "Fine, have your people found anything yet?"

"Not yet."

He sat back in his bed and closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose like he had a headache. "I should have pressed Ryan into staying with me for a few days. I had a bad feeling about these guys after the first call."

"There's nothing you can do about it now." I told him, sharing a sound piece of advice I'd gotten from Ranger once. "Focus your energy on making the best of what we've got now."

"I've told you everything." He said. "I don't know what else could help you find them." He was quiet for a bit before he glanced up at me. "Do you really think these men will kill them?"

I shrugged. "I have no way of knowing. I don't even think Shilo knew why her family was a target in the first place. She believed that if they got caught there would be no way out."

"This feels like something out of a movie." He admitted. "I'm having a hard time believing that people actually do this crap."

I nodded along. It had taken me a while to get over it too. There were some messed up people out there. "Try to get some rest Connor." I told him. "We have arranged for security at your house once you get released tomorrow."

"You really think that's necessary?" He asked.

I nodded. "Until we know what's going on, we won't take any chances. You are now connected with two of the victims. You could wind up being a target."

There was a knock on the door and Bobby pokes his head in. "I'm heading out Bomber, Lester's coming with me. Tank's in a cast, and he's mad, but I'm taking him too. Ranger's up, he's asking for you. I've filled him in on some new info, he'll catch you up."

I nodded. "Stay safe." I told him. "Bring our girl home. We'll join you as soon as we can."

"Will do."

Then he was gone. I said goodbye to Connor and waved at Hector. "Come on, let's go find the Boss."

Ranger was sitting up when we walked in; the gash on his head had been stitched and covered with some gauze. A doctor was there speaking to him, but Ranger's focus shifted when he caught sight of me in the doorway.

"Babe,"

I moved quickly to his side and sighed when he wrapped an arm around my waist. I leaned into him and put my fingers in his hair, looking over the wound for myself. He still smelt like smoke, but someone had washed the blood out of his hair at least.

"How are you feeling?" I asked softly.

His hold on me tightened and I knew it was a stupid question. Since Bobby had spoke with him first, he would already know that Julie was missing. He was a nervous wreck who wanted to go out and hunt down his daughter to make sure she got home safe and punish the men who had hurt her. In front of the doctor, he said. "I'm fine. How are you?"

"I'm fine." I promised. "I wasn't in the house. Hector wouldn't let me go in after you."

He nodded. "That was the deal Babe. You didn't know if I was hurt or not." He gave Hector a nod I understood to mean 'thanks for watching over my woman, again' I rolled my eyes, stupid men.

The doctor was trying to press Ranger into staying the night for monitoring. He was the only one in the room who thought there was even a slight chance. No way would Ranger stay here.

Just as suspected Ranger was standing up before the doctor had even finished. "No, my medic will watch over us. We're leaving."

"Ram's not." I let him know. "He and Vince need to stay here; I've banned them from field work. Vince may need to retire early. He'll have to see how he feels once his therapy starts."

Ranger nodded. "They'll be in good hands here. I'm leaving."

As far as I know I'm the only one who gets away with telling Ranger no, and even then my average is not high. So the doctor left the room, defeated, to get Ranger's release form's.

Half an hour later I slid into the back seat of a black RangeMan SUV, as Hector started up the car. Ranger was in the front seat, checking in with road teams on his phone. We were going to Haywood to get a full update, and then we would join the hunting party.

RangeMan was a flurry of activity when we arrived. Tank was running things at the office. I could see the outline of a brace under his shirt and his arm was in a sling. There was a dark scowl on his face when we stepped off the elevator, but it changed to business as he approach us.

"The signal on Julie's phone led us to a location only a couple of miles from Ryan's house." He said quickly, jumping right into the heart of our news. "The men found a collection of item's dumped on the street that belong to both Julie and Shilo, including her phone. We're trying to find cameras or witnesses who saw the van and can tell us where it went."

Ranger nodded along, as we followed Tank down to one of the conference rooms. Spread out on the table were the item's Tank had mentioned: Julie's phone, several knives that had to have come off of Shilo, two pairs of shoes and socks.

"Why would they take off their shoes?" I asked.

"How far can you run without shoes?" Ranger tossed back. "It's meant to keep them from escaping."

I nodded along getting what he was saying. No shoes would make running harder, but depending on who was chasing me I was willing to bet I could still run pretty far. A lack of shoes wouldn't stop Julie or Shilo.

"They're also unarmed." I added.

Tank nodded. "We found one of Shilo's guns in the backyard, Connor had the other with him. Our best guess now is that Julie lost hers in the house. I don't remember seeing it with her."

"You saw her?" Ranger asked.

Tank nodded; clearly, no one had gone into details about how Ranger had gotten out of the house after the explosion. "I found you in the kitchen with Julie." Tank explained. "Shilo was there trying to move the rubble that had trapped you guys. She couldn't move it by herself."

"How did she look?" Ranger asked, only those of us who knew him well would see the concern in his eyes.

Tank put a heavy hand on Ranger's shoulder. "Better then you did, she was awake at least. Her ankle was hurt though. She was having trouble walking, so Shilo was holding most of her weight. As we were heading for the front door, part of the second level came down and blocked their path. That's why they doubled back to the rear door."

Ranger frowned and I knew where his thoughts would take him. "She did save Julie's life, Carlos." I reminded him gently. "Yours too in the end. You can't blame her for this. Tank wouldn't have been able to carry you both out with his shoulder injured. He would have left you behind."

Ranger nodded because we all knew it was true. Forced into choosing, any of the men would have picked saving Julies life over Rangers. He would have expected them too. "Doesn't mean I have to like her."

I let the topic drop for now. However, I had a sinking feeling that if everyone came out of this alive we'd be seeing a lot more of Shilo around here. Hopefully, they could work out their differences for Julie's sake.

We had teams out looking in full force and since there was a confirmed kidnapping, along with a living witness, in Connor, to place one of the O'Donnell's at the scene the police were getting involved too. Now we just needed to know where to look.

**Pov- Julie**

I sighed and rolled over trying to find a comfortable position. My ankle hurt whenever I moved, but at least the swelling didn't seem to be getting worse. I'd slept uneasily all night, waking up every time a pipe groaned or the wind blew to hard. It was miserable. This place was miserable. I kept imagining Shilo dead in some room downstairs and my dreams were filled with knowing I'd failed to save her.

Eventually I'd dragged myself out of the bed and hobbled into the bathroom to soak my ankle. I laid on the tile floor with my foot in the tub and tried to think of some brilliant way to get myself out of this mess.

The cuff around my good ankle wasn't steel, but without a tool I hadn't a hope of breaking it and there wasn't anything I could use to pick the lock, I'd looked. The chain wasn't long enough for me to reach the large window in my room and even if I could it was bolted shut.

"Come on," I said aloud, thunking my head against the floor. "Think," Sitting here waiting to learn wither or not Shilo and Ryan were still alive was starting to drive me mad.

I heard the lock tumble on the door and quickly jumped to pull my foot out of the tube and stand. I was using the sink counter to pull myself up when Gavin walked in.

"Morning," He said.

I scowled at him.

"I brought food." He continued, offering me a hand up.

I ignored his offer of help and limped back into the bedroom. There was now a tray sitting on the edge of the bed, with a napkin draped over a paper plate. "Should I assume it's poisoned?" I asked sarcastically.

"Sorry," He mocked right back. "I'm all out of poison at the moment." He pulled the napkin back, revealing a sandwich, and pushed the tray closer to me. "It's peanut butter."

I looked him over once, then eyed the sandwich. I was guessing by how high the sun was that we'd been in captivity for at least eighteen hours. I was starving.

He pushed it even closer to me. "Just eat it."

I rolled my eyes and gave into my rumbling stomach. I ate a couple of bites and wondered if I could get Gavin to talk to me.

"Where are we?" I mused, glancing out the window. "I could smell the ocean last night."

"I can't tell you that." He said, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"We're near Point Pleasant right?" I guessed.

He shrugged.

"Ok," I continued. "Can you tell me why I'm here at least?"

He shrugged. "O'Donnell's going to use you to make sure no one interferes with their plans. Maybe trade you for that moron Flynn. I don't really know. Ever since I got caught by you they don't keep me in the loop. Probably think I struck some kind of deal with you guys."

I grinned. "Sorry about the stun gun."

"I wasn't watching. I deserved it."

Silence hung between us for a few moments while I took another bite of my sandwich. What I really wanted to ask was if Shilo was ok, but I was afraid of the answer.

"Your friend's still alive." He said. "I figured you would want to know."

I nodded. "Thanks."

"Don't thank me yet, she's with a couple of the O'Donnell's right now. If they can't get any information from her it will only get worse."

"What will?"

"Her chances of survival."

"What is she supposed to know?" I asked. "She was only a kid back then. She was moved to the states. They can't expect her to remember very much."

He shrugged. "They might get something out of Ryan. He was older."

"Not by much."

Gavin took my plate once I was done eating and stood to leave. "Get some rest," He advised walking away. "You look like crap."

* * *

><p>~Darkrose<p>

Sorry this is kind of short. I needed to split it somewhere and this was the only place I liked. Next chapter should be up soon.

Question's 8 and 9 to make up for missing one- What's your favorite sandwich? Are you a Giants fan?

As always R&R let me know what you think.


	12. Chapter 12

As far as sandwiches go, I like lots of veggies on mine, peppers and onions and olives and all of that good stuff. Just no tomatoes for this girl, ick. As for Football, I only cheer for the Packers because it drives my grandpa nuts, I don't actually watch it. Lol. Go GreenBay!

* * *

><p>"Te Amo"<p>

Chapter 12

**POV- Shilo**

"You're not really in a good position to be making demands from us."

I smirked, John and I had been fighting for nearly half an hour at this point. He just didn't get it. I had what he wanted, but he was only going to get it if I got my way.

"Those are my terms." I repeated. "I'll tell you what I know about that necklace if we go free. I want Julie returned to Haywood, unharmed. Then you let Ryan and me leave."

"I could just kill her." John said. "You'll tell me what I want to know or the girl dies."

"No deal." I shot back, trying to look menacing while I was still shackled to the prisoner's chair. "If you hurt her I have no reason to tell you shit. You won't get anything from me without my cooperation. This isn't the first time I've been held against my will."

Keith rolled his eyes. He'd been watching our banter from his place against the desk the hole time, seeming to find our fighting humorous. I took Keith to be the smarter of the two brothers. John was crazy, Keith was ambitious. I hadn't meet the eldest brother yet.

"Just let the girl go." Keith said. "We didn't need her in the first place. That was another screw up on your part. Besides, we're running out of time. We need to start thinking about leaving. With the boy's getting into so much trouble with the local authorities, it's in our best interest to head home."

Good if they were in a hurry to get back to Ireland it would only help my cause. They wouldn't have time to think of a way to foil my plan. Hopefully they'd give in and I'd get my way.

John's eyes narrowed. "What makes you think she isn't trying to trick us?" John demanded. "If we let her go, we lose our bargaining chip."

Keith shrugged. "Release the girl and keep the boy as insurance until we get what we want." He smirked, glancing at me over the top of his glassed. "If she's lying, then the boy dies. Then we make her talk my way." Then Keith left the room.

John smiled. "Alright Lass, I'll play your game for now because you amuse Keith, but you better know what you're doing. Keith may look like the good cop compared to me, but cross him and he'll kill you faster then I want too."

He pulled a gun from the folds of his suit jacket and ran the barrel gently along my jaw. "And believe me," He continued darkly. "I want too."

John left the room and a few moments later, another unknown man came to collect me. I was pulled to my feet and returned to the basement. Once I was locked back in my cell and the guards had left I scooted back into my place next to Ryan.

"Are you ok?" He asked. "You don't look too ruffed up."

I shrugged. "I'm fine, do you still have it?"

He nodded and pulled my little knife out of his pocket. "Yeah, I got it, slick transfer by the way. Where did you get this?"

I took the knife and flicked it open. "Thanks, It's mine, I was wearing it. I'm just amazed it got through their search. I was so sure I'd lost all of my weapons I didn't even think to look for it."

"Lucky," He agreed.

I smirked to myself, maybe there was something to the 'luck of the Irish' theory after all. It certainly seemed to be favoring me lately.

"What did they ask you about?" Ryan wondered. "Did they ask about Grandma?"

I nodded. "Yeah, and her old necklace. I wonder why they want it so badly."

"It has something to do with money." He said offhandedly.

I rolled my eyes, why did violence always have to do with money or sex. "That necklace can't possibly be worth that much." I mused aloud.

I didn't get it. Silver wasn't that valuable, and sure the emerald was huge, but it wasn't worth all of the effort the O'Donnell's had put into hunting us down. It would be cheaper and easier to just make another one.

"I don't think the money's in the necklace itself." Ryan explained. "When they were talking with me, it sounded more like the necklace was some kind of clue to finding the money. Too bad no one knows where it went."

"I do." I said in sing-song with a tiny smirk. "Go figure right?" I added when he gave me a disbelieving look. "What were the odds of that?"

He raised his eyebrows at me. "You're kidding right? Grandma died when you were a baby, how on earth do you know where that necklace is?"

"Research." I said easily. "I've spent years hunting down every piece of information I could find about our family."

"Why?"

I shrugged. "Because I wanted to know more about them." I admitted. "It sounds kind of silly now, but back then I thought that if I could learn about them, that I might be able to learn more about myself. I kind of went through a rough faze when I moved to the states. I didn't know who I was."

Once again, Ryan reached through the bars and took my hand. He gave my fingers a squeeze and smiled softly when I looked up at him. "That's not silly." He said. "I forget how young you were when we lost them. It's only natural that you would have been curious about your family. You probably can't even remember Dad to well."

"I can remember his voice." I admitted. "He used to sing us to sleep."

Ryan nodded. "Every night, you used to have nightmares sometimes and when you'd wake up Dad's singing was the only thing that would help you fall back asleep."

I didn't remember the nightmares, but I had distinct memories of being sung to. I couldn't remember the words or any of the song's, just the pitch of his voice. Sometimes our Mom would sing too or I'd fall asleep listening to them play downstairs.

"Do you remember 'Good Night My Angle'?" Ryan asked.

I shook my head. "Is it a song?"

"Yeah," He hummed a few bars; his low baritone voice was very warm and inviting in the cold gray room. I smiled and listened enjoying the familiar rhythm. Once he was done, he looked to me and I nodded. I recognized the tune to the lullaby our mom used to sing.

"I remember that tune."

"When we get out of here I'll teach you the words." He promised. "I bet it would sound a lot better coming from you. The song was meant for a soprano."

"I'm an alto."

He shrugged. "That's still higher than me. We can duet; I'll play the violin and you can sing. I know that you'd love the guys I play with. Our band's been missing a female voice."

"It's been a long time since I've sung." I admitted. "and even longer since I've played."

"It's in your blood, it will come back." He said positively. "Now tell me more about Grandma's necklace. Where is it? How did you find it?"

I sat back against the bars and launched into the tale about all of the searching I'd done for information on our family. I'd found birth certificates and death notices. "I have a news paper clipping." I explained. "It was from Grandma's funeral. In the picture, she was all decked out in her casket with her make-up done. She was wearing her wedding ring, and that necklace. I'd bet my life that it went into the ground with her."

"But, you don't know that for sure." He asked. "What if it's not there? How are they even going to get it, if they buried it? It'll be six feet under."

"By the time we learn if it's there or not, I'm hoping that you and Julie will be long gone." I explained. "I'll figure something out later for myself. I'm good at improvising, but it will be easier and safer if I know your both safe."

"What do you mean we'll be gone?" He demanded. "You struck a deal with those maniacs?"

I nodded. "I have to make sure that you guys get out safely." I explained. "This was the only way I could think of to do that."

"That's crazy!" He shot back, "You can't trust them as far as you can throw them. They're traitors and murderers. They'll never follow through with what you want."

"They will if they want that necklace." I said confidently. I wasn't sure if my plan was going to work, but at least Keith had seemed down with my trade. What other choice did I really have?

"What about you?" He asked seriously. "You know they'll shoot you if they find out your wrong. Even if you're right and they find the dumb thing, they'll kill you as soon as they have what they want. I won't leave you alone with them."

I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes. He was not going to make this difficult for me. "You will not fight me on this." I told him flatly.

"Like hell I won't-" He interrupted, but I shut him down fast.

"No, you're going to do what I tell you to." I demanded, in my sharpest military voice. "I'm the one with battle training. I can take care of myself. What I need you to do is get yourself to safety, so that I don't have to worry about you getting caught in the cross fire later."

"You're crazy," He said.

I shrugged. "Probably, but I'm going to negotiate for your release as well as Julie's. Once you're out you can go for help. I've told you where I think the necklace is. Once you get out go figure out where Grandma's buried and tell the police to expect us."

"I don't like this." He said. "I still don't think you can trust them."

I nodded. "I don't trust them. Really, I'm just hoping to play them long enough for them to release Julie."

He thought for a moment. "You're not planning on getting out alive are you?" He asked solemnly.

"I'm not trying to be a martyr." I told him honestly. "You bet your butt I'll try to get out alive. I just think it's unlikely they'll let you go, let alone both of us, after all of the work they went through to get us both here."

"Can I do anything to help?" He asked. "I might not be trained, but it feels wrong to consider leaving you here. I'm supposed to protect you."

"You've already done that." I reminded him. "I'd have died years ago if it wasn't for you. Let me help you this time."

He nodded. "I still want to know if I can do anything to help."

I shrugged. "That depends on them. First, we need to wait and see if they'll play along with my terms. They seemed interested upstairs, but I doubt it will be that easy."

We both fell silent as the lock on the dungeon room door tumbled and the door swung open. I passed the knife back to Ryan and he stuck it in his pocket to keep it hidden. Gavin walked in carrying a covered tray and kicked the door shut behind him. He crossed the room to stand in front of my cell and flashed me a smile. "Hello Sarah." He said sarcastically.

I smirked. "Hi Gavin."

"You know him?" Ryan asked looking flabbergasted.

I nodded. "We've spoken before."

"I brought lunch," He said sweeping the tray out and flourishing the napkin away. "Peanut butter," He said, "Breakfast of champions."

He tossed a sandwich to me and I took an eager bite out of it. I was starving. Again, Ryan looked at me as if I was losing my mind.

"Aren't you worried that it's poisoned?" He asked, grabbing the sandwich that Gavin tossed him, but not eating it.

I shrugged. "Nope, John's to into torture to let us die a slow easy death alone here in our cells. He'd want to watch us die and inflict lots of pain. Besides they need me if we're going to finish our deal so it's unlikely they'll kill us right now."

"You made a deal with them?" Gavin asked. "Are you crazy?"

"Thank you!" Ryan said, tossing his hands. "See," He continued, turning to face me. "Even one of their own men can't believe you'd work with them."

"I hope you know what you're doing." Gavin said.

I nodded. "Me too," I said around another mouthful of sandwich. "Giving them what they want is the only way to make sure that Julie and Ryan go free."

Ryan sniffed at his sandwich before taking a tentative bite. He smiled slightly at the food and I wondered how long he'd gone without eating. He was done with his food before me, giving Gavin an odd look.

"Would you let us out if I asked nicely?" He asked.

Gavin smirked. "Not a chance, I'm in enough trouble as it is. I let you out and I might as well pull the trigger myself."

"They haven't killed you yet," I offered. "That's got to be a good sign."

He nodded. "I guess. I'm surprised you haven't asked about your little friend upstairs. She was very curious about your welfare."

My heart jumped. I had thought about asking if he knew wither Julie was all right or not, but I'd been afraid of what his answer would be.

"Is she ok?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yep, I just brought her some food as well. They've got her locked upstairs."

"She was injured." I said. "Has anyone treated her?"

He shook his head. "The wound is not life threatening so they won't give her medical treatment. I had her soak it in cold water so the swelling is better. She hasn't been harmed since arriving."

The door swung open again and Gavin fell silent quickly, probably he didn't want to get caught chatting with us so easily. Two men walked in and I narrowed my eyes as I recognized one as the man who'd tried to strangle me in the ally. I believe Flynn said his name was Amos. There was a line of stitches along the right side of his face, running from his temple almost down to his jaw where I'd managed to swipe him with one of my knifes. Good to see I'd managed to mark him the same way he'd marked me.

"Hello Beautiful, long time no see." Amos said, leaning against the front of my cell. "Got something that belongs to you." He taunted with a big smirk. Then he pulled a long silver chain from his pocket and I knew even before he held the crest up that it was my necklace. My blood was still stain across its face and darkened part of the chain.

"Go to hell,"

He just grinned even more. "She's feisty." He commented to his unknown partner. Then he looked back at me. "You're going to be fun to break."

I narrowed my eyes in a silent challenge. Bring it on! I wasn't afraid of Amos. I was pissed off and looking for a fight. Lack of common sense fear was practically a requirement of Special force work and one of my best advantages. Hiding undercover amongst a bunch of rebel spies was easy. The thought of having to face Ranger if I survived this scared me to death.

Amos ran the pad of his thumb along the line of stitches on his face. "Gunna make you pay for cutting me." He said darkly.

I mirrored his move, by touching the line of stitches on my neck. "We're even,"

"I don't think so." He sneered at me. Aww, was the big, bad thug mad that I'd marked his pretty face. I was starting to think he'd look good with a matching scar on the other side.

"Now, now Amos," The man with him commented playfully. "Play nicely. You can have your fun later." Then the older man looked to Gavin. "Are you finished?"

Gavin nodded. "Yes Sr."

"Then leave, I'd like a word with Miss Connalay and you have other things to do."

Gavin nodded obediently and left the room. I kept my attention on the unknown man. If he had the power to boss Gavin around I was willing to bet this was the last of the older O'Donnell brothers. Once Gavin was gone, he smiled at us.

"Hello," He said pleasantly. "I haven't had the chance to introduce myself yet. My name is Roy."

Roy O'Donnell was a hair under six feet tall and built like his brothers. Tall without being lanky, but not overly muscled. His hair was dark brown and his eyes were dark green. The only plus was he didn't look crazy.

When neither of us spoke, he continued. "My brother's have mentioned that you claim to know the whereabouts of the necklace we are hunting for."

I nodded. "Then they have also mentioned my condition for assisting you in finding it."

He nodded. "Indeed, very noble of you to put the life of your friends and family above your own safety. I have considered your terms, but I feel we need to discuss them at greater length." He nodded his head to Amos. "Grab her."

I suppressed a groan. I should have known it wouldn't be this easy and from the sick look on Amos's smug face I was about to get the bad cop treatment of my earlier interrogation. I gritted my teeth and mentally cracked my knuckles. It was time to prove that the only way they were going to get any information from me was to do what I wanted them to. Let's get this over with.

"Where are you taking her?" Ryan wanted to know. "She already agreed to help you."

Amos unlocked my ankle cuff and grabbed my arm, yanking me to my feet. He smirked at Ryan, "No worries, your sister and I are just going to have a little chat upstairs."

Ryan caught my eye and I was glad I hadn't told him that Amos was the one who had hurt my neck or he really would have been freaking out. "I'll be fine." I promised him. "I promise, I'm tougher then I look."

Amos smirked again and ran one of his fingers along the line of stitches in my neck. I made myself a promise to wipe the look right off his face at the first chance I got. "We'll see about that." Roy followed us out and I heard Ryan call my name right before the door slammed shut on him.

**Pov- Julie**

It was starting to get late and I was wondering when something was going to happen. For some reason I imagined that being held captive would be more intimidating. So far the only person who'd even come into my holding room was Gavin.

I was lying on the bed, counting the little stucco dots on the ceiling when the lock on the door tumbled open. I sat up quickly, caught off guard by the sight before me. Several men came into the room led by an older man I recognized as Roy O'Donnell. His brother John O'Donnell was there along with a couple of unknown Lynch's.

Then I spotted Shilo. She looked like crap. She was practically carried into the room by a man I recognized. He was the one she'd fought with in the alleyway who had taken her necklace. I stood quickly incase I needed to move fast and got my first good look at her.

One of her eyes was badly swollen, and there was a dark bruise forming along her jaw. The line of stitches on her neck had been ripped open in places and blood was soaking into her shirt. Her hair was a mess and I spotted cuts and bruises along her arms even though they were cuffed tight behind her back. She was breathing hard and I was willing to bet she had some damaged ribs.

Roy took her roughly by the arm and pushed her forward so she tripped and landed on the ground in front of him. "It's your lucky day." He said darkly looking at me though crazy eyes. "This little lady has won your freedom."

I narrowed my eyes at him. What did that mean?

"Unlock her." He ordered.

Gavin stepped out of the crowed and approached me. He motioned for me to sit down and when I didn't he shoved on my arm. I sat down on the edge of the bed and he unlocked the shackle around my ankle. He took my arm once I was free and tugged me forward a step.

He pushed me in Shilo's direction and let go of me. My first instinct was to leap at the nearest man and start fighting. My ankle meant that I wasn't going to be doing any jumping for a while. Then the fact that I was so outnumbered stopped me from doing anything stupid.

Instead, I took a step in Shilo's direction. Every nerve in my body yelling out to check on her and do what I could to take away her pain. When no one stopped me, I moved to her side and dropped to my knees, wrapping my hands around her. "Shilo?"

She looked up at me and smiled softly. "Hi,"

I cupped one hand under her jaw and used the other to brush a string of her hair away from her face. She pressed into my hand and I scooted closer to her. "Are you ok?"

Her shoulders stiffened and she sat up, pulling out of my hold. "I'm fine."

"What's going on?" I asked, missing the contact between us and not liking the hardened look on her face. Her walls were all back in place, stronger than ever. If I ever found out which one had hurt her, the man would die.

"Julie, you're leaving this place." She said.

I opened my mouth to say I wouldn't leave without her, but she cut me off. "Don't argue." She said sharply. "Don't say anything. I'm going with these guys." She continued, nodding to Roy. "We have unsettled business to deal with and there's no need for you to be part of it anymore. You were never meant to be here in the first place."

I narrowed my eyes at her. It sounded like she was reading a script. I didn't believe for one moment that she thought I'd just leave and not go for help. She knew me better than that. The O'Donnell's had probably made her say these things.

"Don't come after me." She continued, locking eyes with me. Hers were dark and sharp and when they looked over my face, I saw pain in them. She really didn't want me to come after her. She was trying to protect me again. "Go home and stay safe for me. As long as you and RangeMan stay out of their way, the O'Donnell's have agreed to leave you and your family in peace."

Roy clapped his hands. "Very good." He said. "Now that that's all settled." He jerked his thumb at the man who'd carried Shilo in. "Bring her back downstairs and let's make the arrangements to take the young Miss Manoso home."

"Aye," He said, before grabbing Shilo by her hair and dragging her away from me. I moved to grab her, but was caught around the waist by a strong pair of arms and yanked backwards. Gavin snapped a mettle cuff around my wrist and locked my hands behind my back.

Shilo was taken from the room and the other men left just as swiftly. Once we were alone I gave Gavin a dark glare and jerked out of his hold. I moved a step away. "What was that for? I should have done something to protect her." I didn't even get the chance to say goodbye.

"You can't go causing trouble." He said. "They'll look for anyway to break off their deal with Shilo. If you had caused a scene, they could have used it as an excuse to shoot you. Then her deal would be for nothing."

"What deal?"

He shook his head, giving the door a quick glance. "No time, talk later." He grabbed my arm again and led me to the front door. "Just walk with me nicely," He pleaded. "This is your only chance to get away from here."

Gavin helped me down the stairs and set me down near a door that looked like it lead to the garage. Then he pulled a length of black fabric from his pocket. "We can't take the van." He said. "You have to wear the blindfold until were away from the house."

"Can I see Shilo again?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Not a good idea. She's downstairs in the cell room with Ryan."

"Cell?"

He nodded. "Yes, your room was very nice comparatively."

He tied the blindfold around my eyes and led me into the garage. I heard a car unlock and then Gavin helped lift me into the passenger's seat of what felt like a large four door sedan. The door next to me clicked shut and a moment later, I heard the front door open and then the car started up and backed out of the garage.

It was silent for a long time. Gavin didn't say anything and I was trying to decide if he'd let me peek past the blindfold to see where we were. I reached for the tie and he spoke, gently smacking my hand away from the knot. "Leave it on,"

"Where are we going?" I demanded, arms crossed, scowl on.

"I have orders to return you to the RangeMan building on Haywood Street." He said. "The car is being monitored visually, so don't try anything stupid or I'll have to hurt you."

"What about audio?"

"No," He said. "They can't hear us."

I leaned back in my seat and tried to look pissed off. Not hard seeing as I was being held against my will. "Why are they monitoring us?" I wondered aloud.

"Making sure I behave, as well as providing the proof of safe delivery that Shilo demanded as part of her agreement. She'll see the tape later."

"What exactly did she promise them?" I asked. "What did she want in return?"

"Try not to move your lips so much." He said softly. Then he was silent for a bit. Probably, he didn't want it to look like we'd had a friendly chat. That would limit the number of questions I could get answered.

I was getting ready to ask another question when Gavin spoke up. "She's helping them find something."

"What?"

"Don't know, but I doubt she actually has it. I think she's playing them. In exchange she wanted you and Ryan to go free, unharmed and unbothered in the future."

"And they agreed to that?" That didn't sound like something the O'Donnell's would do.

Gavin was quiet for another long pause before he answered. "They only agreed after Shilo refused to break under physical pain. You saw how thoroughly they worked her over. She's a tough one. She didn't say one word the whole time Amos was beating on her."

After what I was guessing was another hour. Gavin told me I could take the blind fold off. I removed it quickly and blinked a few times in the dim light. I waited for my eyes to adjust and took in my surroundings.

We were in a large gray four-door flying down rout one towards Trenton. The sun was setting and people were in a hurry to get home. I recognized the area immediately; we were only twenty minutes from Haywood as long as traffic behaved.

"If you're going to do something stupid make sure you do it fast." Gavin said as he pulled off the interstate. "I overheard John and Roy talking. We're leaving tomorrow night."

"Leaving?"

"Heading back home." He said. "If the O'Donnell's get on Irish soil they'll vanish and you'll never see either of those kids again unless they float in on the tide."

"Are you going with them?" I wondered. "I thought your family lived here in the states?"

"We do, a few of us will accompany the O'Donnell's home and return once they have been safely delivered. That's how we always do it when they drop in for a visit. I will be part of the delivery team this time."

He kept his eyes trained on the road before us, ignoring my blatant stairs. "Why are you helping us?" I asked. "You've been very nice to me all things considered."

He stopped short at the side of the road a couple of blocks from Haywood. "Guess I'm just a nice guy." He said. Then he reached across my seat and opened the door. He undid my seatbelt and gave me a hard shove, sending me falling to the sidewalk below.

I landed hard and cursed as pain throbbed in my ankle, glad I'd managed to catch myself before I'd hit my head. "Ass Hole!"

Gavin chuckled at me. "See you around." Then he pulled the door shut again and laid rubber, whipping an illegal u-turn over the median and getting right back on the interstate. I waited for him to be out of sight before getting to my feet and moving as quickly as I could down the road.

The streetlights were on, and several of the shops and nearby apartment buildings were dark as their owners went to sleep or retired to an evening of television. The only exception was RangeMan.

Every light in the RangeMan building was on, lighting it up like a beacon. Clearly, the guys were pulling double shifts trying to find us. I hadn't even hit the edge of the front yard before the doors flew open and Hal dashed out followed shortly by Woody. They both had their guns drawn. Thank god for monitors, I wasn't sure I could have made it all the way to the door.

I tripped as they near me, my ankle giving out after the run. Hal caught me easily and pulled me to his chest. Woody was scanning the area, looking for danger.

"All clear." He said shortly. He stood in front of me, keeping me shielded between the two of them. "Let's move her."

Hal scooped me up, tucked me to his chest like a football and took off for the safety of Haywood's lobby. I wrapped my arms around his neck and held on. We entered the lobby and I could hear feet on the stairs. A second later the door opened and what looked like the rest of the team poured out.

Ranger and Stephanie were in the lead followed by the rest of the core team. Hal only loosened his grip on me when Ranger reached us and then Ranger wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me to him.

"Are you alright Niña?" He asked.

Everyone was talking all at once, asking if I was ok and where I'd been. How did I get away? They wanted to know. Where had I been taken? There were so many of them. I was overwhelmed by how much they all seemed to care. They were all so happy I was back. Ranger must have noticed that I was getting overwhelmed because he ordered everyone to step back and pulled me closer to his chest.

I wrapped my arms around his neck as he hooked his other arm under my knees, picked me up, and started moving. We got onto the elevator. Steph, Bobby, Lester and Tank forced their way on with us.

"I'm fine Daddy." I promised, he hadn't taken his eyes off me.

"You were limping." He said. "Tank already told us that you'd hurt your leg. Bobby will look at it."

The elevator stopped on three and once we were all inside Bobby shut the door. Ranger carried me to the hospital looking bed and set me down. Ranger staid by my side, while Bobby rolled over a chair and started looking at my ankle.

"This happened in the house?" He asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, when the explosion first happened."

"Are there any other injuries I should look at?" He asked and I felt the tension in the room spike while they all waited to hear my answer. I knew what they were waiting for. Bobby was really asking if I'd been sexually assaulted. I was thankful he didn't say the words.

"No," I said quickly reassuring them that I was fine. "I wasn't miss-treated." In the end, I'd practically been ignored once they'd gotten me chain upstairs.

I felt everyone take a collective breath and then I winced as Bobby pressed on a tender spot causing me to flinch.

"Brown!" Ranger chided.

"I'm fine." I protested. "Don't yell at your doctor."

Bobby smirked at me. "Sorry Niña." He said. "This is going to hurt a little bit, but I don't think the damage is too extensive. Tell us what happened."

I nodded and felt Ranger press a kiss to my temple. "They were waiting when we got out of the house." I started. "John O'Donnell was there with some of his men. They grabbed us and stuffed us in the back of this van that was waiting. Shilo got stun-gunned and they tied us up. They took our things away, did you find them?"

Ranger nodded at my side. "We tracked your phone to the dump location. Your things are upstairs."

I continued my story, going into as much detail as I could remember. I was positive the house they'd taken us to was near Point Pleasant.

"We've had eyes on the O'Donnell's Point Pleasant house." Ranger told me. "There hasn't been any activity for the last three nights. It almost looks abandoned.

"Then there's another house." I said confidently. "I could smell the ocean and we were only in the van for a couple of hours at the max and the drive back felt even shorter than that. My guess is they took the long way bringing us in so they could make sure they weren't being followed."

Lester and Tank remained silent against the far wall as I continued my story. Steph had taken up a spot sitting on the bed behind me, while Bobby worked on my leg. She had brushed out my hair and was playing with it.

I told them about the room I'd been kept in and how Gavin was the only one who'd come to see me. I even told them about the sandwich he'd made me.

"Sounds like Shilo made a friend." Lester commented. "Maybe she's working with Gavin. That would explain why he took care of Julie."

"Or he's just a nice guy." I interrupted. "I have a feeling that Gavin's finally realized that he's in over his head. I think he felt sorry for me."

Then I told them what I knew about Shilo's deal.

"Gavin said she was helping them find something, but he didn't believe that she really knew what she was doing."

"Dealing with your captors never works." Bobby said. "They'll kill her as soon as they get what they want or realize that she doesn't actually know anything."

I nodded along, that's what I was afraid of too. "She wasn't trying to get herself out." I said. "She traded her cooperation for Ryan and I. She's in bad shape too." I told them. "They worked her over pretty hard; she was having some trouble breathing."

"They promised not to come after you?" Ranger asked.

I nodded. "Only if we didn't interfere." I explained. "I don't think they really expect me not to. Shilo was spouting a bunch of crap about leaving her behind. We have to move fast though; Gavin said they're leaving tomorrow night for Ireland. We have to get them back before then or we'll never find her again."

Everyone was silent once I'd finished my story and I watched Ranger's face, waiting for him to break into motion and start calling orders. Load the car's, get a search going, find the house and storm into action, why wasn't he mobilizing the troops?

"Carlos," It was Steph who first broke the silence. "You're not really considering that are you?" She asked him. I turned my head to look at her. Considering what?

"Why should we?" Ranger asked. "Shilo's working with them now. She asked Julie not to come after her. It's her fault they were put in danger in the first place."

"What about Ryan?" Steph pressed and I finally understood. Ranger didn't want to go after her.

I turned back to face my father, floored by what I saw there. His standard blank face was gone, replaced by more emotion then I was used to seeing on him. Anger, fear, other's I wasn't sure about. He was seriously considering not rescuing her.

He was watching my face in turn, I wonder what he saw on my face. "Ryan was never our goal." He said. "The bond on Michael is over. Technically our part is done."

"What?" I asked, still not believing what I was hearing. "You can't be serious."

His gaze hardened, as did the grip he had on my hand. "We have you back now, that's what matters. Your safe and I'll see to it you stay that way."

"They'll kill her!" I shot back, pulling my hand away from him. "We're the only chance they have."

"She almost killed you," Ranger argued right back.

"Shilo's never done anything to purposely put me in danger. She saved my life. She traded herself for my freedom. I wouldn't be here right now without her."

"This is her problem."

"That's Bull Shit!"

We were yelling at each other, hands on hips, stubborn in place. Steph looked like she wanted to intervene, but didn't know what to say. The boys just stayed silent. I knew they had been worried about me but surely, they didn't all agree that we should leave Shilo and Ryan on their own.

"We have to go after her." I said, trying to lower my voice. "It's the right thing to do."

I pushed Bobby aside and slid off the table I'd been sitting on, ignoring his order's to remain seated. Bobby had wrapped my ankle and put me in a small boot, but it still hurt to put too much weight on it. "If you won't help me I'll go by myself." Then to prove my point I started to hobble towards the door.

"Why is this so important to you?" Ranger asked, his voice had dropped back to a conversational level, but the point of his question was clear. He knew.

I stopped to face him. I'd known that sooner or later I'd have to tell him about Shilo and I. I was hoping to have done it before he found out. Not right after having been kidnapped.

"What exactly is Shilo to you?" He asked.

Steph was looking at me with a knowing look, but none of the boys noticed it. They were all watching me. I was sure Lester had figured it out. I was pretty sure Bobby suspected too. "Mi Amante." I said gently, brushing my hair away from my neck so they could all see the fading mark that Shilo had left on my skin, only a couple of nights ago. "My lover," I repeated, feeling braver for having finally said it aloud. "I love her."

Lester's mouth fell open and I almost laughed at him. Tanks face staid blank, and Bobby looked like I just confirmed his worst nightmare. Stephanie offered me a small smiled when I looked her way and nodded that I should continue.

"I love her Dad." I said again. "Have from the moment she got here. I know that I promised not to get involved with her, but I didn't know how to stop it. It just sort of happened. She loves me too, I know she does."

"She's only been here for a week." He said. "You can't possibly know her well enough to believe that you've fallen in love with her. She lied to you."

I narrowed my eyes at him. He didn't know shit about Shilo. "Just because it took you three years to pull your head out of your ass and admit that you loved Stephanie, doesn't mean it takes all of us that long to realize what we want!"

I felt bad as soon as the words were out of my mouth. It was a low blow. I knew Dad wished that he would have moved faster with Stephanie, that he'd kept his distance at first to protect her. My words were also true, so I didn't regret saying them. I refused to stand here and let Shilo try to save herself. She needed my help and I was going, wither they helped me or not.

Steph reached out a hand and put it on Ranger's shoulder. He turned to look at her they did one of their ESP things. Stephanie always talked about how Ranger and the core team could talk without words, but I'd never seen anyone do it as effortlessly as they did. Steph knew exactly what to 'not say' to make Ranger see sense.

"You saw this coming Carlos." She told him gently. "She's more like you then anyone ever realized."

He nodded, but said nothing.

"Help her or lose her." Steph continued, dropping her hand to into his and lacing their fingers together. "She's an adult now. You can't lead her life for her. She's made up her mind. Now what are we going to do?"

Ranger looked back at me. We locked eyes and something passed between us that I would later call mutual respect. I'd stood up to Ranger before, but this was the first time I was calling the shot. I seriously would leave on my own if he wouldn't help me, and he knew it.

"Alright Julie." He said standing up and motioning for the guys to follow his lead. They did so, but the only one who looked even remotely happy was Lester. I knew it would take time for the guys to learn to trust Shilo again. I also knew that they would eventually do it for me. "Let's go find her."

I smiled and wrapped my arms around his neck when he reached me. I kissed his cheek and gave him a big hug. "Thanks Dad."

"Let's find her first." He said, squeezing me back. "Then the three of us are going to have a chat."

I just nodded along. "Fair enough."

**Pov- Ryan**

It had been hours since Roy had taken Shilo away and every moment she was gone increased the sickly feeling in the pit of my stomach. What sort of shape would she be in when they brought her back? Would they even bring her back?

I stayed in my place near her cell. The empty room the only connection I had to her. I should have offered to take her place. Should have tried to do something to protect her. I had her little knife in my hand, turning the small piece of metal over and over again.

The lock on the cell room door tumbled open and I shoved the knife away. The man Roy had called Amos walked in, and if it hadn't had her red hair I might not have recognized the mass he dragged in with him.

"Shilo?"

Amos ignored me as he unlocked her cell and dropped her inside. I could see her chest moving, but her breaths came in short gasps. Amos hooked her shackle back in place, thought it was entirely unnecessary. I was doubting she could stand let alone try escaping.

"She'll live." Amos said standing back up once he was sure her shackle was locked. "For now."

I narrowed my eyes. "I'll make you pay for hurting her."

"You're not going to do shit." He said confidently, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back against the bar's of her cell. "Once the O'Donnell's are done playing with her, you'll be dead, and sister dearest over here," He said nodding in Shilo's direction. "will become my new pet. Lucky for me. I've always had a thing for red heads."

He left the room, that cocky smirk still in place. As soon as the door was shut and locked behind him I turned to look at Shilo.

"Shy?" I called her name. "Can you hear me?"

She groaned, rolling onto her side so she was facing me. She was a mess.

"Can you move over here?" I asked. If she could get closer to the side of her cell I could look over her injuries.

"I did it." She said softly, making no attempt to move. Her voice was muffled by a swollen lip.

"Did what?" I asked.

She looked at me with her good eye, the corner of her mouth turning up. She took a couple of deep breaths. "Julie's out. She's safe."

I tried to ask if she was ok, but her eyes had closed and her breathing evened out. She'd passed out. Now that Julie was safe, what were we going to do to escape?

* * *

><p>~Darkrose<p>

I never intended to do anything from Ryan's pov, but I wanted to show Shilo getting back to her cell and she wasn't in the best shape to be doing a lot of talking. What did you think?

Question 10 (No way will we make it to twenty before this is over)- Any special lullaby's from when you were little?

*Youtube 'Celtic Women's' version of the song 'Good Night My Angle'. It's one of the sweetest little songs in the world and their version is my favorite.


	13. Chapter 13

Some of my earliest childhood memories are of my mom and grandmother singing, "Good Night My Angle" or "You're my little girl" to me. They are both very precious songs to me and one day I will sing them to my own children.

* * *

><p>"Te Amo"<p>

Chapter 13

**Pov- Shilo**

I woke stiff and sore to someone repeatedly calling my name. I rolled onto my back with a groan and nearly hacked up a lung when a coughing fit rattled through my chest. My ribs hurt every time I took a breath, but the pain was good, at least it meant I was still alive.

"Shilo?"

I tried to turn my head, towards the voice, and hissed as the stitches on my neck pulled. I knew I'd ripped several of them out and I could feel my own blood crusted on my skin and dried into my clothes. I took a couple of slow breathes and tried to straighten out. I'd passed out in a pile and my muscles had stiffened. Once I was lying flat, I did a mental inventory on my worst injuries.

I was sore all over and even without opening my eye's I knew I'd be covered in bruises, those would heal. I flicked my tongue out and winced at the rip in my lip, ouch. I tested each of my teeth by pressing my tongue against them, glad to see that none of them were loose. I stretched my arms above my head and winced as my shoulders popped. I was sore, but I was alright.

My biggest problem seemed to be my ribs. I was sure now that I'd cracked a few from the sharp sting every time I took a shallow breath. I was just hoping that I hadn't actually broken any of them. The last thing I needed right now was a shard of rib-bone piercing one of my lungs.

"Shy?" Dang this person was persistent.

I tried to answer and coughed again. My throat was dry and my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth. While I tried to wet my lips, I found another problem. I blinked my eyes open and found one of them still badly swollen, preventing it from opening all of the way. Not even the ribs bothered me as much as that. I hated having my eyesight compromised.

"I'm good," I managed to croak out when Ryan said my name for the third time. It had taken a moment for everything to start coming back to me. I remembered where we were, I remembered why I was in such bad shape. If there was a God watching over me, he'd give me the chance to kick Amos's ass before I died.

"I have some water." He offered. "Can you sit up?"

Water sounded really, really, good right now. It was definitely something to motivate more movement from my tired body. I blinked my eyes a couple more times and rolled onto my side. It was an uncomfortable task, but I managed to push myself up to a seated position. Ryan was watching me from his side of the bars that divided our cells, a clear bottle of water in his hands.

"You look like shit." He said.

I felt like shit. I was so worn out, I couldn't come up with a snappy comeback, and too focused on the water to care. I tried to keep my back straight so I wouldn't put any extra pressure on my ribs while I moved. I scooted very slowly over to the end of my cage and leaned against the cool bars. Moving the two feet needed to get here, had taken all of my energy and I lay back down harder then I meant to.

"How are your ribs?" Ryan asked once I'd caught my breath.

I stayed flat on my back, since it was the position that caused me the least amount of pain. "Cracked." I responded. "Water?"

"Open your mouth." Ryan answered.

I opened my mouth and felt a tiny amount of water slid over my tongue. My mouth was so dry the first few capfuls never even reached my throat. He repeated the process, until I could speak easier.

"Better?" He asked.

I nodded slightly. "Thanks."

"How did it go?"

I stayed still, keeping my eyes closed and my posture even. I didn't want to go into details about the beating I'd received. There was no need for him to suffer though the nightmares I would be having for the next month. "I'm fine," I promised, avoiding his question. "They let Julie go."

I kept my eyes closed, but I could hear the eye-roll in his voice. "You already said that. I meant, how did your beat-down with the O'Donnell's go."

"I know you did." I said sourly. Why couldn't he let this go for me? "I'm alive." That was what mattered the most. I'd deal with the rest later, on my own.

"That Amos," He hesitated and the tenor of his voice changed. I cracked open my good eye so I could look up at him. I caught the dark look that crossed his face before he looked back down at me and caught me watching him. "He didn't hurt you did he?" He asked carefully.

I was covered in bruises and fighting to breathe, obviously he had hurt me. I slowly lifted my hand and pointed at my swollen eye.

"That's not what I meant." He said gently. "I was guessing he was the one who worked you over. You'll have to explain your first run in with him to me sometime. He was way too eager to get his hands on you."

I raised an eyebrow. If he hadn't been asking about all of my cuts and bumps, then what did he mean?

Ryan sighed and looked down, avoiding my eyes while he spoke. "He didn't do anything more inappropriate to you did he?" He asked shyly. "He didn't touch you?"

Ohhh. That's what he meant.

"No Ryan," I promised meeting his gaze when he looked up at me. "I haven't been raped."

I visible watched him relax, some of the tension left his shoulders and he took a deep breath. Clearly, he'd been worried about that. "Good," He said. "I'm glad."

I nodded, sensing how uncomfortable he was with the topic, but unsure of how to change it. "Me too." When he didn't speak again I wondered what had brought up his question. Amos had clearly shown his distaste for me. Why would Ryan suspect foul play? "Why do you ask?"

He stiffened again and I gave him a moment to regain his thoughts and find his voice. "He mentioned that he was looking forward to you becoming his pet once this was all over."

I shivered and tried to ignore the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I'd put a bullet between my own eyes before I became any kind of 'play thing' for Amos.

A silence fell between us and after getting him to feed me a few more sips from the water bottle he'd gotten, I started wondering if Julie was back home yet.

"How long was I out?"

Ryan shrugged. "I'm not really sure." He said honestly. "My sense of time is all thrown off. There are no windows in this room. I'm not even sure if it's day or night time."

"It was late when they brought me down here." I said. "Probably eight or nine o'clock at night."

"You were asleep for quite a while." He said, thinking. "It's probably morning by now."

So, Julie was home already. I was sure Bobby would have looked her over by now. She'd be in good hands. I knew she wouldn't listen to my advice about leaving us behind. How long would it take her to find us?

"You should try and rest some more." Ryan advised. "Gavin mentioned that the O'Donnell's would be busy today so he doesn't think we'll be bothered."

"Could be a good time to try and escape."

"You can barely sit up." He reminded me. "Now is the time to rebuild our strength. Go to sleep, I'll wake you up if anything happens."

**Pov- Julie**

… "Mom?"

She just kept going. Chatting in my ear, on and on and on.

"Mom!" I said again a little bit louder, trying to get her attention.

Her voice just got louder too as she continued to rant. "I just don't understand why you want to be part of that life." She pressed on, like I hadn't even spoken. "It's so dangerous, dear. I know you want to be closer to your father. Carlos is a good man, you should get to know him, but you don't need to work with him, it's too risky. You should go back to school. Come back down to Miami, where I won't have to keep getting calls from your father, telling me you're in the hospital, or almost dead, or being chased by crazy people."

She took a deep breath and I seized the moment, jumping in before she could catch her second wind and start nagging me again.

"Mom, I already told you. I'm fine. I promise."

"This is the second time Julie." She said sharply. "Do you have any idea what I've been going through the last two days?" She asked. "Carlos didn't have any leads; the police haven't found anything yet. He couldn't tell me anything other than that you'd been taken by another mad man and he knew your ankle was hurt."

I shot Ranger another dark look. Why on earth, had he felt the need to call my mother? I'm surprised she wasn't already on a plane up here. Ranger was sitting in his office chair, while I sat perched on his desk. He'd tried to leave the room after telling me that I needed to check in with Rachel. I'd pointed a stiff finger at his chair and told him to 'take a seat.' If I had to suffer through my mom's worries so did he. This was his fault.

"Mom, I'm fine. I promise." I said again. "Bobby looked at my ankle; it's only a bad sprain. I'm even wearing a boot for it so it doesn't get worse. I have to go now, we need to get back to work."

When she spoke, her voice was softer and I was glad that it sounded like she was really listening to me this time. "Yes, Carlos mentioned that another girl had been taken with you after the fire. She hasn't been found yet I take it?"

I shook my head before remembering that she couldn't see me. "No, not yet." But, I would get her back.

"Check in with me soon ok?" She asked. "Promise me that you'll stay safe. Your hurt, let Carlos and his men find your friend."

"I promise mom," Not a chance. "I love you."

She sighed and I could just imagine her shaking her head and rubbing at her forehead. "I love you too baby girl."

I tossed my cell phone onto the desk once she'd hung up and gave Ranger another look. "Why did you have to freak her out? She always over reacts."

He raised an eyebrow at me. "She didn't over react. You were missing with little evidence to help us find you. She had every right to be worried and I promised Rachel I'd keep her informed while you were working here."

"You did?"

He nodded. "Yes, she called me after you announced that you wanted to move to Trenton. She knew she wouldn't be able to stop you so she wanted to make sure you would be safe here. I call her ever week and tell her how well your doing with your training. I also keep her informed of your more serious medical visits. She's your mother, she's supposed to worry about you."

Wow, I'd had no idea they were talking so much. I'd known my mother wasn't thrilled with my decision to come work at RangeMan, but it felt nice to know she was looking out for me in her own way.

"She loves you Julie." Ranger said.

I nodded. "I know."

There was a knock on the door and we both turned to look. Lester was standing there and he nodded when we looked up. "Couple of guys from TPD are here." He said. "They want to talk to you, Boss. Go over what they have."

Ranger nodded and got to his feet. "I'll be right there."

Lester nodded and left the room. Ranger kissed the top of my head as he passed me and helped me down off the desk. The pain meds Bobby had given me took the edge of my ankle, but it still hurt.

"Why don't you check in with Steph and Hector?" He said. "They're doing comp work. Maybe you can help them find this house."

I nodded and waited until he'd left the room. I pulled my jacket on and limped out onto the main floor. Everyone was still there, working hard. The sun was just starting to rise and I knew we were running out of time.

I stopped in the break room and grabbed a tray. I loaded up coffee and sandwiches for three before heading to Hectors office. Hector's office was a small corner room at the end of the hall. He had six computers and a string of monitors and usually every available surface was covered with bits and pieces of wire and other electronic whatsits.

Today all of the odds and ends had been swept aside so Stephanie could take over his table and counter space with tons of papers. Hector was rolling back and forth between two computers. The one that caught my eye was a map of the Point Pleasant area. Various markers, in different colors, were dotted on it.

Steph looked up when I came in and smiled at me. "Thanks," She said as I passed her some coffee. Hector took a glass without looking up and I found some free space near the door for the tray. Steph was bent over a printout of the same map Hector had, and she was marking it with a highlighter she'd pulled from behind her ear.

"What have you found?" I asked.

Steph started pointing to the map. She showed me the house, we knew the O'Donnell's were renting and a few others's she thought were worth looking at. There was a blue line that marked the part of the road trip I'd been able to see and had a few smaller blue marks trailing back to place's we might have entered the highway.

I watched them work for a bit and bounced ideas back and forth with Steph, feeling more and more lost as everything we looked at came up empty. It wasn't possible to check every house in Point Pleasant, and we were running out of time.

"Julie," Steph said after another stretch of silence. "You look beat, why don't you try to take a short nap? It might make you feel better."

We all knew I wouldn't be able to sleep right now. They would think it was because I was worried about Shilo. I knew, it was because my room would smell like her. I wondered from the office, trying to think of something useful I could do. I wasn't the best with computers and I'd already told the team everything I could remember about the house and the drive to it. I wanted to be out on foot, hunting with my own two hands.

When I stopped walking, I found myself on the fourth floor. I didn't want to go to my room. Instead, I looked across the hall and found the door to Shilo's room open. Not surprising, some of the men had gone through it when she first disappeared.

I wondered into the front room. All of the apartments on four were build the same. The front room led to a small kitchen, followed by an open dining/living room. Single bedroom in the back were the bathroom was also located.

Shilo's bags were all on the floor near the end of her bed. It didn't look like she'd unpacked much, then again she'd spent more nights in my room then hers. Some items were tossed on the bed, probably rejected while she packed to leave. I peeked into the bathroom and found a faint trace of her scent. I took a deep breath to calm myself, and to help me focus. There had to be something I was missing, some way to find her before it was too late.

I came out of the bathroom and nearly shrieked. Col. Lowry was standing in the bedroom. I hadn't heard him follow me in. He was absentmindedly staring around the room, but when I came out of the bathroom, his eyes swiveled to look at me. From the bags under his eyes, I was guessing he'd gotten about as much sleep as the rest of us.

"I'm sorry if I startled you." He said.

I shrugged. "I didn't hear you come in."

Col. Lowry and I had gotten off on the wrong foot from the start and he hadn't so much as looked at me since I'd gotten back. What would he want now? Had he known I was in here?

He walked out to the living room and I followed after him as he took a seat on the arm of her sofa. "I wanted to say thank you for what you've done to help us find Shilo so far." He said, his voice gruff. "I know we didn't exactly hit it off before."

I shrugged. "No problem."

When he didn't say anything I turned to leave. I'd only gone a couple of spaces before he spoke up, calling me back. "You care about Shilo, don't you?" He asked.

I took my time finding the right words to say. Shilo had never told the Col. about her preference for women and I didn't want to out her if she wasn't ready for him to know. "Yes," I finally said, because it was the truth. "I care about her a great deal. We've become very good friends these past few days."

He nodded. "I can tell."

His eyes ran over me and I couldn't tell what he was looking for.

"I know about her." He said softly. "About her preference for other girls, I mean. She's never mentioned it to me, but it wasn't too hard to find out."

I raised an eyebrow, wanting him to continue.

"It was obvious after Gina's death." He said sadly. "Anyone who knew her well enough could tell that she changed after that night. Although not many people know her that well. Has she told you anything about Gina?"

I nodded. "What she could."

"Sweet girl," He said. "Gina's death was a tragic loss for everyone on her team. Really, we're lucky any of them got out that night."

"Is there a reason you brought it up?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Just thinking aloud." He said softly. "I think that you'll be good for Shilo." He continued, surprising me. "She's been though more in the past fifteen years than most people experience in their whole lives. I know you think I don't care about Ryan, but that's not the case. I truly thought I was doing the best thing for all of them by splitting them up. I promised their father that I'd watch over his children if anything ever happened to him."

"Wouldn't you have been able to watch them better if they'd both been with you?" I asked. "Seems to me it's easier to care for someone under your own roof then across the country."

He shrugged again. "Maybe, it didn't protect Shilo. I was worried that my connection to their father might be discovered. That they might be tracked back to me if the O'Donnell's had ever suspected any of the children had lived. Ryan was easy to hide, but I couldn't get myself to send Shilo off with strangers."

"Why not?" I wondered aloud. "If it was so easy to ship Ryan away."

He leaned back a bit, relaxing more as he spoke. "Her mother approached me after the car accident that claimed the life of Shilo's father." He started. "Emily knew it was only a matter of time before the O'Donnell's came back. She knew there was little they could do to stop it. We were already planning to ship Shilo, Ryan and little Peter to the states. We were hoping that by moving them and changing their names we might be able to protect them."

"Is that why you were so quick to act after the fire happened? Emily already had you on standby."

He nodded. "I would have come for them in a few weeks anyway. Unfortunately, the O'Donnell's attacked faster than we thought they would. Emily was gone, and the children had no more living family to hide with. Emily would have wanted me to go through with our plan. Shilo was her only daughter, and although Emily would never have played favorites with her children, the plan had always been for Shilo to be adopted into my family. She looks just like her mother."

"You loved her?" I guessed. It was all over his face when he talked about her that the Col. had feelings for Emily.

He nodded. "Yes, don't get me wrong though. I married the love of my life. My beautiful wife gave me five boys and I never would have traded her. Emily was impossible not to love. She was uniquely sweet and unbearably kind even after all of the pain she suffered through."

"In the end it doesn't look like it made that much of a difference." I mumbled, falling into the cushion next to him. "We have no leads to find her, either of them."

Col. Lowry raised an eyebrow at me. "Are you giving up?"

"Of course not." I shot him a dirty look. "Just not sure what else we should be looking for. We've only got until tonight or they'll take her away. Once they leave in that plane I'll never see her again…"

I stopped and for a moment fought the urge to look over my head for one of those little light bulbs you see in cartoons when the hero get's an idea. The plane! Was anyone looking for the plane?

"We should be looking for the plane, not the house."

"You got an idea?" The Col. asked, but I was already moving for the door.

We couldn't find the house. It would take us too long to try searching all of Point Pleasant. You can't hide a plane, not easily at least. There were only so many places you could store a plane and even fewer where you could also take off in it. Why hadn't I thought of that sooner!

I hit the stairs moving as fast as I could and nearly tripped trying to throw the fifth floor door out of my way. I could hear the Col. chasing after me, but I didn't slow down to wait.

"Steph, Hector!"

Steph met me in the hall and I had half of the floors attention with my shouting. "What is it, Julie?" She asked. "Did you find something?"

I hobbled into Hector's office and jumped up onto one of his counters to take the weight off my ankle. "Don't look for the house." I started. "Point Pleasant it huge, it's a lost cause. Look for the plane. It's got to be a private plane, you can't easily take hostages on a commercial airline and you know Shilo will make a scene if they try. Look up any place nearby where you could store and take off in a small jet. I bet it's under one of the Lynch's names, and if not they probably have another Irish Pilot who's in on their deals. If we find it fast, we could even get Joe in place with TPD. We can catch them when they try to leave and take them all down."

"Good plan Julie."

I jumped; I hadn't noticed Ranger in the doorway. I'd made enough noise trying to get to Hector's office. I should have guessed he'd follow. Lester was with him and they were both grinning.

"I'll get looking." Hector said. "It is good plan, fewer airports then houses."

"We should call TPD and let them know our plan, see if they could add some force to a take down." Steph said. She glanced over at Ranger. "Want me to call them?"

He nodded. "Yeah, we'll need more people. This could go bad if it turns into a fire fight."

**Pov- Shilo**

"Do you think we're going to die?"

I raised an eyebrow and glanced over at Ryan. Neither one of us had spoken in probably four hours and I was wondering when his thoughts had taken a negative plunge.

"Statistically, the longer a kidnapped person is missing the higher the chances are for death." I said easily, trying not to let my own thoughts wonder down that path. The fact that our kidnappers hatted us and would be only to happy to take us out was an added bonus.

He sighed. "I figured you say something like that."

Shortly after I'd woken up Gavin had come in to show me the tape of Julie getting dropped off at Rangeman. I was satisfied that she'd been returned unharmed and grateful that at least part of my plan seemed to be working.

Then my thoughts turned to Julie, as they had been doing a lot lately. I hoped she wasn't mad at me. If I got out of this alive, I'd have a lot of groveling to do. Especially since it was starting to look like the only way we'd get out of here was for her to come and rescue my butt.

"I don't want to die yet." I said softly. I'd been in situations like this before, several that I considered to be more dangerous and less hopeful, but in everyone of them I'd been ready to die if it had come to that. Now I was being forced to rethink my own mortality. I'd never had someone to look forward to coming back home.

"You think she'll come?" Ryan asked.

I nodded. "I think she'll try. Julie's stubborn, she won't listen to me. She'll probably have to black mail her Dad into helping though."

Ryan chuckled from his side of the bars. "If we live through this I'm looking forward to seeing you suck up to this man. He sounds like a freaking nightmare."

"He's a good man." I said quickly. "He's just looking out for his family, all of them. He treats the men he works with like he's still in the Army Rangers. I don't blame him for distrusting me, I lied to him. Nearly got some of his people killed."

Ryan chatted easily for the next few hours and I added comments when it was required. Mostly I let my thoughts wonder. A while later the door to the cell room opened and Gavin came in followed by a couple of the other Lynch's, and Keith O'Donnell.

"Good to see your still with us." Keith said as he leaned against the front of my cell. "I was a little worried that Amos might have over done it, but you are one tough cookie."

I frowned at him.

"Hey, cheer up now." He said. "We're all going home. It's been a while since you've seen Ireland right?"

Now I started to panic. They wanted to leave right now? I was sure they'd stay a few more days and wait for their chance to grab Flynn back from TPD. These guys really were heartless, if they were going to let him sit here and rot.

When neither of us responded Keith nodded to Gavin and said. "Grab the boy," He nodded to another man and added. "Get the girl, tie them up good and get them in the van so we're ready to leave. I don't want them getting loose."

Ryan and I were both pulled from our cells and I tried not to fight while my arms were tied behind my back and a gag was stuffed in my mouth. Ryan was trussed up the same way and then I was pulled to my feet and shoved forward. We were lead back to the main level and out into a large garage. The same van that had grabbed Julie and I in was sitting there waiting for us.

Once again we were stuffed into the back and locked in. Ryan sat up quickly and started searching the door. He wouldn't find anything. I rolled onto my side and was trying to get my breathing under control. The gag certainly wasn't helping with my cracked ribs.

I caught Ryan's eye when he looked at me and he seemed to notice that I was having trouble breathing. He moved over to my side and spun around so he could reach my gag. It took a couple of pulls but he managed to get it off my face.

I coughed a few times while he twisted back around. "Thanks."

He shrugged his shoulders since his own gag was preventing him from speaking. I rolled onto my back and tried to see if I could get my arms free. No go. My ribs hurt to bad to try and fold my legs through my arms.

Ryan mumbled something to me and nodded at me.

"What?" I asked.

He mumbled again, but I couldn't understand him. Just then were was the sound of a door closing and we could hear voices outside of the van. I could make out at least four or five different voices and the sound of several car doors opening and shutting.

The van shook slightly as the doors were closed and then the motor hummed to life. Looks like it was time to go.

"Shit." I cursed. If they got us on a plane, it was all over. We needed to do something fast. "Ryan come over here."

I forced myself to sit up and grabbed the side of his gag with my teeth. It took several tugs and more creative swearing on my part but I managed to get the damn thing loose.

"Ick," Ryan said, pulling his head back as the gag fell around his neck. "You slobbered on me." Then he leaned forward and wiped his cheek on my shoulder.

I rolled my eyes and shoved him. "Next time I'll just leave you gagged then, ok?"

"Smart ass."

We both fell silent as the van rolled backwards and then settled into a gentle hum as it flew down the road. I didn't know what kind of time we had, but it was running out. Even if Julie managed to find the house, she wouldn't know that we'd been moved. We were on our own.

"So what's the plan now?" Ryan asked.

I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Come on," He said. "You're the military strategist here. You've got to have some ideas. Your Julie isn't going to be able to find us since we're not at the house anymore. We're on our own."

I nodded, good to see we were on the same page. "We need to get our arms free." I started.

Ryan nodded. "One second." Then I watched in mock horror as he twisted his arms above his head so that his cuffed arms were in front of him.

"Ick," I said. I'd seen people dislocate their shoulders before, but it was still gross to watch.

Ryan chuckled at me and rolled his shoulders as they popped back into place. "Never thought that little trick would come in handy."

"Where did you learn to do that?"

He shrugged. "I've always been able to do that. Dad and Theo could do it to." He leaned to the side and stuck his fingers into his pants pocket. He pulled out my tiny knife and fumbled with it a moment until he got it open.

"Let's see if I can figure this out." He said, holding the knife handle between his teeth and sticking the end of it into the lock on the cuffs.

"Have you ever picked a lock before?" I asked, while he wiggled the knife.

He nodded. "Yeah," He mumbled around the handle. "I lock myself out of the house all the time."

After another five minutes with no success, I was starting to think we'd need to come up with a backup plan. Then there was a small click and Ryan pulled his right hand out of his cuff. "Ha," He said excitedly and the knife fell into his lap. "I actually did it."

"Not bad for a civilian."

He rolled his eyes at me and started working on my hands, cuffed behind my back. I felt a sharp prick against my wrist and jumped. "Ouch."

"Sorry," He said quickly. "The blade slipped, it's only bleeding a little bit."

"Try not to slit my wrists before we get out of here ok?"

"Deal."

It didn't take him as long to get my hands free and once they were I wasted no time in unlocking my other hand and tossing the cuffs away. I was just starting to work on his second cuff when the van stopped. The front doors opened and closed and the van rocked a bit as its passengers got out and came around to the back. We'd only been in the van for twenty minutes.

"Quick up by the doors," I said. "As soon as they open them we're going to jump out. Run for the closest cover you can find and don't stop for any reason."

He nodded. "Are you sure you can run?"

I nodded even thought I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able too. "I'm fine," I lied. "Don't stop for me, just keep going. Even if I can't get out you'll know where I am. Get help and then come back for me."

He nodded once. "Alright, Try to stay with me though, ok? I think we'll have a better chance together."

"Ok."

The door swung open and I didn't take the time to look at who was there or what weapons they had pointed at us. I launched myself from the back of the van with everything I had and body checked the first man I reached. He fell backwards, head over ass, and I ran for all I was worth.

"Run!"

I heard a couple of gunshot's go off and lots of multilingual shouting. Ryan was right on my heels as we ran and I was trying to take in our surroundings. We were in a large warehouse like building. There was a small plane in the center, its motor already running while it waited for the O'Donnell's to board. The rest of the warehouse was filled with boxes and piles of other crap, several car's along one side, there was a second floor.

I felt a bullet fly past my head and dived to the right, taking off down another row of stacked crates. My lungs were on fire and the pounding in my head was making it hard to focus. There had to be a side door in here somewhere I could use to get out.

I stumbled rounding another pile of crates and went down to my hands and knees hard. I was gasping for air and knew that running wasn't going to work. "Ryan?" I glanced up and felt a sick sense of fear as I realized I was alone. When had we split up?

I could still hear men shouting and heavy footsteps running in my direction. I tucked myself between two large crates and sunk my teeth into my lower lip to try and quiet my ragged breathing. The footsteps softened as they neared my location. I closed my eyes and counted to ten, willing my lungs to slow down.

My breathing came easier and I didn't feel as light headed after another moment. I opened my eyes slowly, straining my ears to hear anyone nearby. When I opened my eyes, I found myself staring up the barrel of a gun. I raised my eyes a little bit more and found myself locking eye's with crazy old John O'Donnell.

"Hello dear." He said. "That wasn't very smart."

He waved his gun at me and motioned for me to get out of my hiding spot and stand up. Once again my arms were cuffed behind my back and John stuck me hard in the side with his gun as he shoved me forward.

Well this just sucks. I thought bitterly. I was running out of ideas and quickly losing hope that I'd get out of this at all. What was worse was I didn't' know where Ryan had gotten too. I hoped that he'd managed to find an exit. I could probably live with dying if I knew that I'd managed to get them both out of this mess.

John wrapped a hand in my hair as we rounded a corner and reentered the center of the warehouse. Several of the Lynch's were they're and I spotted both of John's brothers as well as young Michael O'Donnell in the group.

John, led me forward with a sick smile on his face, clearly proud of himself for having found me. He knocked me down to my knees once we'd reached the others and Keith rolled his eyes at us. "We should have just drugged them like I said." He said angrily. "This screw up is your fault."

"What do you care?" John shot back. "We got them back."

Them? As is both? Shit.

"Get them loaded on the plane now." Roy said, gruffly. "We need to leave."

As part of the group headed towards the plane, I caught sight of Ryan on the ground behind them. His lip was split open and there was a lump on his forehead. He was out cold and it looked like he'd been hit in the thigh. Blood soaked the leg of his pants turning the material black.

John passed me off to Gavin who took a gentler hold on my arms and steered me forward. He practically carried me up the stairs as I gave a last ditch effort to wiggle away from him. It was mostly pointless. I didn't have enough energy to put up a good fight.

Gavin spun me around and sat me down in a chair once we were on the plane, leveling a gun at me as he took the seat next to me. "Stay still." He said.

Ryan was carried past us and I turned to watch as he was stuck in a back closet and locked in. "Is he ok?" I asked, not expecting anyone to answer me.

"He'll live longer then you will if you don't shut up." Keith said before he backhanded me.

I scowled at him. I was really, really sick of getting hit.

"Want me to teach her another lesson?"

I shivered as Amos spoke up. I hadn't seen him in the group outside.

"Not right now." Keith said.

Everyone took their seats and buckled up and I felt the last of the fight leave me as the plan rolled forward. It was over. The plan turned towards the large garage door on the warehouse and I heard the motor pick up as we started moving.

Just then, the plane gave a short jerk and came back to a stop. Roy cursed and punched an intercom button on the wall. "What's going on up there?" He asked.

There was silence for a few beats and then I heard it. Sirens, lots and lots of sirens.

"Umm, Boss?" A voice spoke back over the intercom. "You might want to come and look at this."

* * *

><p>~Darkrose<p>

Let me know what you think. I really like where the next chapter is going, but this one was fighting with me a bit.

R&R Thanks for sticking with me this long and I'm sorry again for the delay in this.


	14. Chapter 14

I forgot to ask a question in the last chapter again…oh well, on with the story. I'm very pleased with how this chapter turned out, make sure to drop me a review and let me know what you think.

* * *

><p>"Te Amo"<p>

Chapter 14

**Pov- Julie**

"Could you driver faster?"

Ranger glanced at me through the rear-view mirror and I felt the large RangeMan SUV pick up speed.

"We'll make it Julie." Bobby said confidently from the back seat. We were all decked out in SWAT gear racing down the road, towards an old airplane storage facility. The building was mostly unused, manly it was a place for local rich families to store their private planes when they weren't using them. Hector had found it and after a quick call, we found out that not only, was one of their planes registered under the Lynch family, but they also had a working runway.

Steph was on the phone in the front seat, filling in Morelli as he mobilized the TPD to help us with the take-down. We'd probably beat them there since we had a head start, but they'd be able to cut through the red lights. I peeked over my shoulder and grinned at the army of black car's following behind us.

Col. Lowry was in the seat next to me, his calm face reminding me a little bit of Ranger. At first we'd suggested that the retired Col. stay back at RangeMan. He'd shot us down almost immediately and asked for a vest.

I understood his reasoning for wanting to come with. He loved Shilo, almost as much as I did. We all wanted to get Shilo and Ryan back unharmed. I looked out the window at the setting sun and prayed we weren't too late.

As we pulled into the drive that led up to the building, I could just make out the sounds of police sirens behind us. The cavalry was coming in fast. Ranger stopped and spoke quickly with a young man who was in charge of opening the gates.

When he refused to let us in, without clearing it with his boss, I felt my temper snap. I yanked the gun from my hip and leaned over the center console making sure to point it right between his eyes.

"Listen here you little prick. You are interfering with a police investigation. You hear those sirens?" I asked nodding back down the way we'd come. TPD was getting closer and the sirens were obvious in the otherwise quiet lot.

He nodded, his eyes locked on the barrel of my gun.

"That is our back up." I said sternly, "Now you're going to open this gate and let us in without wasting anymore of my time. Lives are at stake here, yours included. Which one of these planes belongs to the Lynch family?"

He raised an eyebrow at me. "You are with the Lynch party?" He asked. "I already checked all of their cars in."

I launched myself forward so I was practically kneeling in Ranger's lap and grabbed the boy by the caller of his shirt thought the open window. "Which Plane?" I repeated dangerously. "The whole lot of them are wanted for murder and kidnapping, tell me or I'll charge you with assisting them and see to it that you hang before TPD."

His eyes went wide as I spoke and he pointed into the compound. His hand shook and a drop of sweat rolled down the side of his face. "Their inside, take a left, their plane is in the last garage on the right." His voice shook. "It's the only bay in operation today so the door will be open. You can't miss it." He leaned back and hit the button to unlock the doors. "Don't shoot me."

I let him go, but kept my gun pointed at him. "Keep this door open so the police can get in when they get here. Send them to the same place, if you're lying to me, I'll hurt you."

Someone grabbed the back of my pants and hulled me into the back seat. Ranger hit the gas as soon as I was out of his way and I slipped to the floor of the car without my seat belt on. Bobby was leaning over the back seat looking at me

"Are you crazy?" He asked. "You're going to traumatize that kid."

"I got us the information we needed." I snapped back sharply.

Lester laughed from his place. "I wish I had a picture of his face. I bet he wet himself. Remind me too never get between you and Shilo."

"There's the garage." Steph said. I climbed into my seat and leaned forward to look out of the front windshield. All of the garages were large gray buildings with giant sliding doors on the front to let the planes in and out.

The last garage was the biggest of them all, reminding me more of a warehouse than anything else. The front doors were thrown wide open and we could all clearly see the pod of cars lined up inside. A handful of people were standing near them and they all turned to look as we pulled up.

"The planes already running." Col. Lowry said. "Get your boy's to park in front of it so it can't leave."

Ranger whipped into the garage and stopped hard, right in front of the small white plane. The rest of RangeMan seemed to get the idea and pulled in near us, creating both a barrier for the plane and a wall of cover for us, since I could already see men drawing guns.

"This is gunna get messy." Lester said, flipping the safety off his gun.

Ranger nodded once from his seat and pulled out his own gun. TPD squad cars were pulling in around the black RangeMan cars, their lights flashing, and I watch Detective Morelli climb out of the front one. Ranger opened his door.

"Everyone in place." He said, speaking into the mic hooked to his ear. All around us the SUV's started opening and Rangeman employees started getting out.

Ranger looked back at me as I opened my door. "Please stay with the car." He said. "I know you want to help, but your ankle will get in the way if you need to fight."

I opened my mouth to protest, but the look he gave me stole my words away. He was worried about me, and as much as I didn't want to admit it, he was right. Plus, he'd said please.

I nodded. "Alright." I'd stay as long as they didn't need my help.

He didn't say anything else and I moved out of the way as Bobby and Lester, joined the group outside. I moved into the front passenger seat and kept the door open so I'd have a full view of what was happening.

**Pov- Shilo**

I'd never heard anything in the world that sounded as good as the wall of sirens outside the plane. Julie had found us and she'd brought her friends. Roy went up front with the pilot and I could just make out the sounds of their voices as they argued.

"Ram through them!"

"Sr. I can't get enough momentum in the garage, the vehicles will just stop us. Worse they'll probably mess up the nose of the plane and we won't be able to take off at all."

"You can't get around them?"

"I can't turn while were still in the garage or I won't make the door. You'll have to get the car's to move out of the way."

Roy came back looking only a few shots short of murderous. He spoke quickly with Keith and John. RangeMan and TPD had trapped the plane. Their only options were to try and fight so they could move the car's, or run.

"We're outnumbered." Keith said on a growl. "If we hadn't wasted so much time chasing them around the warehouse we'd be in the air already."

They continued to argue and over the roar of the squad cars outside I could hear someone on a megaphone order everyone out of the aircraft with their hands up. It sounded like Morelli. I leaned closer to Gavin so I could look out the window and couldn't hide the grin on my face. I spotted Ranger, Steph, Bobby and Joe Morelli all outside along with what looked like the entire staff of both TPD and RangeMan.

A hand clamped around my arm and I was tugged from my seat. John held me close to his chest and pressed his gun to my side again. "So we give them what they want in exchange for freedom, if they don't listen we kill them."

"They won't deal with us." Keith said. "We need a distraction so we can fall back."

Everyone on the plane drew their guns and I felt a weight settle in my gut. These guys weren't going to go down easy and I was going to be right in the middle of a gun fight, unarmed.

Amos opened the door and shouted down to the police that they were coming out.

"Put her in front." Roy said, nodding at me. Then he looked over my shoulder at John. "You lead."

John wrapped his arm around my neck and held me against his chest like a shield. "Alright Lassie," He said in my ear. "You're going to behave, or I'll put a bullet in your pretty little brain."

There wasn't a doubt in my mind that he'd do it.

My arms were still cuffed behind my back as John lead us forward. Moving slowly so we didn't trip each other. He got us into the doorway and Amos hit a button to drop the stairs. It was slow going on the stairs and I could hear the rest of the group filing down behind us. My attention was split, half on the stairs so I didn't pitch forward and break my neck, half on the group of people in black, looking for Julie among them.

Once we reached the bottom of the stairs John and his men pulled back leaving me out in the front. I caught sight of Col. Lowry amongst Ranger's men and for just a moment felt the corners of my mouth pull down. I was still mad at him, I had the right to be upset. However, it was hard to forget that this was the man who'd taken me in and raised me, when he was here risking his life for me. When this was all over the two of us were going to have to have a nice long chat.

"Let the girl go." Morelli said over the megaphone.

John shook his head and whispered in my ear again. (Tell them we'll exchange you and your brother for our freedom.) His Celt was flawless and for the first time I noted a hint of Welsh in his accent.

I shook my head, unwilling to do even one more thing this bastard ordered of me. "You speak English, tell them yourself." What's the worst he could do? Shoot me? He was probably going to do that anyway.

He shook me a bit and repeated. "Tell them."

"Coward."

He hit me, his free hand going to my hair as he yanked the curls hard to hold me in place. "You will do as I say." He ordered. I licked at the new split in my lip, ignoring him.

Realizing that I wasn't going to budge, he turned his attention back to the police speaking up for himself. "We offer a hostage exchange in return for our freedom."

"That only happens in the movies." Morelli replied. "Where's the boy?"

John's only reply was "He's alive."

If Ryan wasn't in the group with us down here that meant they'd left him on the plane and for that I was glad. He was probably safer there for now.

John and Morelli continued to stand off, neither one giving the other what they wanted and after a while I let my attention wonder. Several members of Ranger's team had spread out discreetly during the negotiation. I couldn't see them, but I was willing to bet he had a few men around behind us too.

Ranger caught my eye as I swept them over the warehouse again. His gun was already up, but as I watched he took slow aim right over my shoulder. Was he nuts? He kept a hold of my eyes and nodded his head slightly to the side, signaling me to duck to the left. Like me, he'd seen that talking was going to get us nowhere. He better be a good shot.

I took the deepest breath I could with my busted ribs and prayed that I was reading his body language right. John's arm was back around my neck, but he'd loosened his grip since we'd been standing here for awhile. Until this moment I'd been mostly cooperative, so maybe he felt confident that I wouldn't try to run again. John was crazy,_ and stupid_. Worked for me.

I moved fast, catching him off guard since surprise was the only thing I had to my advantage. I dipped to the left, ducking my head under the gun John had been holding to me. He instinctively fired and the bullet flew past my hair, causing my ears to ring. I shoved an elbow into his gut, moving purely on instinct and adrenalin. Once I'd shoved him back another step and loosened his hold on me some more, I threw myself to the left and ducked to the ground as more gunfire rang out, the blasts echoed in the warehouse.

My ears were ringing and people were yelling. I didn't feel any pain so I hadn't been hit yet, hopefully. A body collapsed next to me and I had a moment of panic before I recognized it as John, a neat little bullet hole right in the middle of his forehead.

It felt like the world was moving in slow motion as I risked looking up. John's brothers and their men were pulling back fast, while they opened fire on TPD and RangeMan, who'd all dropped back to take cover behind the vehicles.

I felt a hand grab me just above my elbow and then we were moving. Whoever had a hold of me, practically dragged me farther into the warehouse as everyone took off, scattering like roaches in all directions. I could hear lots of yelling and the occasional gun shot.

I twisted and kicked out at my captor. A man's voice grunted as I caught him in the thigh and then Amos had me up against the wall, a hand on my throat. He sneered at me, "You are more trouble then you are worth." He said, waving his gun around.

"Then why grab me?" I retorted, trying to kick him again.

"Just following orders, Beautiful." He said. "Boss doesn't care about your brother anymore, but he needs you alive."

I was guessing that by 'Boss' he meant the eldest brother, Roy O'Donnell. So far I'd only ever seen Amos around when Roy was calling the shots. The warehouse was full of noise and I prayed that, if I could slow us down enough, someone from RangeMan would find us. We'd only gone a few more paces before I heard the one voice I hadn't wanted to find us.

"Stop right there!"

Amos twisted around holding me in front of him as a human shield just like John had. Julie was standing a handful of yards away, having just stepped around a pile of crates. Like the rest of RangeMan, Julie was decked out in black swat gear, including a vest. There was a boot on her bad ankle and she had a gun leveled right at us, a scowl on her beautiful face.

"Go away little girl." Amos called. "Your friend and I are going for a plane ride."

Julie smirked. "You aren't going anywhere. This whole place is surrounded. You'll never even get outside. Even as we speak, the rest of your family is being round up and carted away like dogs."

Julie took a step forward and Amos mirrored her move by stepping a pace back. Julie narrowed her eyes. "I recognize you." She continued darkly. "You've been causing us a lot of grief this past week."

Amos smirked. "You got lucky in the ally." He said. "I would have rung your sweet little neck."

There were some loud footsteps coming down the same row of crates Julie had come from and we all paused momentarily to watch as Gavin emerged his own gun drawn. He'd started with his gun pointed at Julie but upon looking over our group he lowered it slightly.

"What are you doing?" Amos asked. "Grab her, let's take them both. He nodded at Julie."

The glare Gavin tossed us would have made me pause and I didn't scare easily. "You don't get to order me around Amos." He said darkly. "I don't take orders from you."

"What is this?" Amos demanded. "John was right; we should have just killed you as soon as they released you from that prison. I knew you'd turn traitor on us."

Gavin raised his gun again and took aim right for Amos. "I'm not the traitor here." He said. "You turned on the family Amos. You should have known I'd come after you. My sister's too good for you. I'll never let you lay a hand on her again."

"Your sister's lucky to have me." Amos shot back. I didn't even know Gavin's sister, but the tone of his voice made me want to slug him.

"Hey!" Julie shouted out, firing one round into the air. "If you two want to go talk somewhere more privately we'd be happy to get out of your way."

Amos fired a round at Julie, causing her to leap aside. "Stay out of this!"

"Let the girl go." Gavin ordered.

Amos never got the chance to respond. Gavin opened fire and I hit the dirt faster then I'd ever moved in my life. I felt white-hot pain tear into my shoulder and knew I'd been hit, but thankfully the bullet had missed anything more important.

I rolled away from Amos as the three holes in his chest leaked all over the floor. A moment later I was rolled onto my back and Julie was kneeling above me, brushing hair away from my face and checking for a pulse. "Shilo! Shilo, are you ok?"

I shrugged, then winced. "I'll live."

Then her lips were on mine. The kiss was short, but hot until she moved and bumped me in the side. Pain flared up in my chest and I winced. She pulled back with an apologetic grin and slowly brushed another string of hair away from my face. "I would have regretted not doing that." She said, reminding me of the last time I'd gotten to kiss her in the back of O'Donnell's van.

She helped me sit up against some boxes and I spotted Gavin standing near us with his gun still up.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

He shot a small smile my direction. "I got what I wanted." He said easily. "Amos will never get the chance to hurt my sister again. I am, however not foolish enough to believe that I will get out of this garage without being arrested. I might as well make sure the two of you get back to your friends unharmed."

Julie smiled. "I knew you were a good guy." She said.

"No, I'm not." Amos said. "But, maybe this will make up for a few of the things I've done in my life. At the very least I am hopeful that my family will no longer live under the rule of the O'Donnell clan. My children will have a better life then I did."

He pulled a key out of his pocket and tossed it to Julie, who undid my arms. I rubbed at my sore wrists and let Julie help pull me to my feet, careful of my bleeding shoulder. She wrapped an arm gently around my waist and I gladly leaned into her as we hobbled forward.

Gavin handed his gun over to Julie and helped us find the shortest route back to the main warehouse. Men in TPD uniforms were standing over a row of men all cuffed and shackled, lying on the ground. We'd only just stepped into the open garage space when Lester and Bobby appeared like shadows. They both leveled guns at Gavin.

"Get away from them." Bobby ordered.

"Nice and slow." Lester added.

Gavin put his hands up and took a step away from us and in the background, I could see more people approaching us as our presence was noticed.

"He's good Bobby." Julie said, sliding the gun Gavin had given her to him. "He helped us. This is Gavin."

"I recognize him." Bobby said stiffly, "I still want him to back away, very slowly."

Gavin did as asked and was taken away by Lester and another uniformed TPD. Bobby helped Julie sit me down and then he started looking over the fresh gun shot in my arm. "This will heal fast." He said. "It didn't hit the bone. Is there anything I should look at right away?"

I shook my head. "My ribs are messed up, but I'll live."

"Do you know where Ryan is?" He asked. "We haven't found him yet."

I was on my feet and running before he'd finished speaking. I'd forgotten to ask about Ryan. I could hear Julie call my name, but I didn't slow down to wait for her. Bobby caught up to me easily at my slower pace and followed me into the plane with his gun drawn. It was empty.

I threw myself at the back closet door and yanked on the handle forgetting that it was locked. "Shilo, stop." Bobby pulled me back a step and shot the lock off.

The door jumped and I tore it out of the way. Ryan looked up at me once it was open and I almost laughed. He had my little knife between his teeth again and was, unsuccessfully, trying to unlock the cuffs that held his hands together.

"I was wondering when you were going to come and get me." He said sarcastically, "You didn't forget about me did you?"

Bobby pulled Ryan out of the closet gently and set him up against the wall, unlocking his hands. "Are you ok?" He asked.

Ryan shrugged. "Who wants to know?"

I offered introductions. "Ryan, this is RangeMan's medic Bobby Brown. I told you about him. Bobby this is my brother Ryan."

A knock on the wall behind us announced the arrival of more people and I turned around in time to see Ranger, Steph and Julie all come into the plane. Bobby was looking at the lump on Ryan's head and I did more introductions.

"There's an ambulance waiting for both of you outside." Ranger said, everyone else who was injured has already been moved out."

"I'm going to ride with them." Bobby said. "They'll both need X-rays and I want to check on the others."

I was sitting in one of the back plane seats and Julie slid into the seat next to me. She had a cloth in her hands and she tied it around my bleeding arm for me. I smiled gently when she looked up at me. The corner of her mouth turned up and I felt confident that she wasn't mad at me for the mess I'd helped make of this investigation. Given the chance to talk, I had a feeling we'd be just fine.

She leaned forward and gently touched my swollen eye. I pressed my cheek into her palm and took a moment to enjoy her soft skin and the light scent of orchids I could smell coming off her hair. When I looked back up at her, she had on a full-blown grin.

"I love you." I told her, amazed at how easily the words came. I did love her; I'd loved her since day one.

She gently kissed my temple. "I know," She said softly. "I love you too."

When she made to pull back I grabbed the collar of her shirt and pulled her too me. This kiss was much longer, much hotter and involved a lot more tongue. Had we been alone, and I'd been in better shape, I'd have had her naked already.

We broke for air as someone cleared their throat behind us and I think we both blushed. Steph was smiling, but Ranger and Bobby both looked like they weren't sure what to make of the pair of us. Ryan broke the silence by laughing.

I raised an eyebrow at him and he nodded at Ranger's disapproving face. "Start kissing up little sis."

I locked eyes with Ranger again and froze, not sure what I should say. Thanks for saving my life? I'm sorry I almost killed your only daughter. Would you mind if I striped her naked and made her scream?

Alright, so I'd never have the balls to ask that last one. Who would?

"Say nothing right now." Ranger said holding my gaze. "We need to get you both looked over at the hospital. We'll all talk once this has settled down."

I nodded and let Julie and Steph help me down the stairs and out to the last waiting ambulance. Bobby loaded Ryan into the back with me before climbing in himself. Julie was going to ride over with Ranger and Stephanie.

One of the paramedics insisted on hooking me up to oxygen. Next to the ribs, and the gunshot wound, they seemed to be most worried about my eye. I tuned them out as best I could only answering medical questions when they asked me directly. Bobby had most of my information already on file from my last ER visit though RangeMan.

"Who else got hurt?" I asked, once the man poking my eye declared there was nothing more they could do until we got to the hospital.

"I don't know all of the details." He said. "Detective Morelli took a shot to the arm. Another detective got hit twice in the leg." He paused, and then added. "The Col. took a couple of hits too. I didn't get the chance to look him over myself. I'll check on his condition for you when we arrive."

"Did he look ok?" I asked. "Do you know where he got hit?" I was mad at the man; That didn't mean I wanted him to die.

Bobby shook his head. "I don't know enough to give you many answers. I know one of the bullets grazed his neck so there was a lot of blood when I looked. He was wearing a vest. I wouldn't worry about him just yet."

I nodded along and kept quiet for the rest of the trip. Once we arrived, Ryan and I were loaded onto stretchers and wheeled off to different rooms for evaluation. Bobby left to check on the others, promising to come find me later.

**Pov- Julie**

I watched until the ambulance with Shilo was out of sight before turning back to the warehouse. All of the men who'd been caught were loaded into car's and most of them had already been taken away. I spotted Gavin standing outside of a squad car with Steph's friend Eddie. I wondered over to them, since there was little I could do to help with the clean up.

Gavin smiled when I stopped at his side. "I never got the chance to ask how your ankle is doing. What did your medic say about it?"

"Just a bad sprain. It'll will heal just fine."

"Good," He said. "I am glad."

"What are you guys doing?"

Eddie nodded to the clip board in his hands. "Mr. Lynch here is helping us name the members of the O'Donnell family who were caught today. He is however being very stubborn when it comes to the rest of them."

Gavin smiled. "I will say nothing that will implement my own family. You're going to have to work for the rest of the information you require."

"Family above all else is sacred." I quoted. "Don't waist your time Eddie."

Eddie rolled his eyes and stuck Gavin in the back seat of his squad car. On my request he left the window down so I could continue to talk with him.

"Are you armed." Eddie asked.

I pointed to the gun on my hip. "Yep, I don't think I need to worry about Gavin attacking me." I said. "You've even got him cuffed."

"I'm not taking any chances with you." Eddie said. "Your daddy scares the crap out of me." He added with a chuckle. "and Stephanie is even more terrifying."

"Will I see you at diner this Friday?" I asked.

He nodded as he walked away. "Count on it."

I waited until Eddie was out of earshot before turning back to the car. I leaned against the window and smiled at Gavin. "Thanks for your help earlier. I wasn't sure how I was going to get Shilo away from that man."

Gavin frowned. "His name was Amos."

"He was the one who attacked Shilo in the ally right?" I asked to clarify my guess.

Amos nodded. "Yes, very proud of himself for it too. It was the necklace he got off Shilo that let the O'Donnell's learn of her true identity."

"Do you know where it is?" I asked. "I'd like to get it back to her."

He shrugged. "Probably it's in his pocket where we left him. He was always carrying it around."

I thanked Gavin one more time before excusing myself. It took me a couple of minutes to find the right path to the location where Gavin had shot Amos. There was a Detective near the body and after a quick version of the story; he checked Amos's pockets for me.

"Is this it?" He asked, pulling out a length of silver chain.

I nodded. "That's it, how long until I can get it from you?"

He set the pendent down next to the body and snapped a few photo's before slipping it into a plastic bag. "I'll send it right in to get processed. Shouldn't take too long to get back to you, this case is winding up fast."

"I'd like to be the one to give it to her."

He nodded. "I can arrange that."

I thanked him in advance and went off to find Ranger. He and Steph were leading the RangeMan side of the investigation. Michael O'Donnell was one of the people who'd been caught in the raid so RangeMan was going to be getting their bond money on him after all.

"You want to leave." He guessed when I stopped by his side.

I nodded. "I want to go check on them."

"We're just about done here." He said. "Why don't you and Steph go to the hospital now. You can keep me informed on anything important Bobby tells you until I can get there."

I agreed and dragged Stephanie to the closest RangeMan SUV. Unfortunately my bandaged right foot meant I couldn't drive so I stuffed her into the driver's seat.

It took us half an hour to get back to the hospital without the advantage of emergency lights. Steph sent Bobby a text as we walked in and we got the room numbers for RangeMan employees from a woman at the front desk.

"Several of these patents are currently being treated so you might not be able to see all of them right away." She told us.

"That's alright." Steph said. "Bobby's up there with them, we just want to be nearby."

Bobby was waiting for us when we got upstairs.

"Slow down Niña." He said, snagging my arm as I tried to move past him towards Shilo's room. "She's not even in there right now. Doctor took her and Ryan off for X-rays. She's probably got a couple of broken ribs."

"How are the others?" Steph asked.

"There good. Col. Lowry was taken into surgery as soon as he got here. He's the only one I'm unsure about."

"Did the Doctor think he'd make it?" I asked.

Bobby led us to a small sitting room near most of the RangeMan rooms. He sat us both down and poured us cups of coffee. "The Doctor was sure he could repair the damage, but the Col's vitals were very unstable. There is risk of seizure during the operation due to his age and a preexisting high blood pressure problem. He took a slug low in his shoulder and another sliced his neck. A third bullet grazed his arm, but that one is minor in comparison."

"Has Joe been seen to yet?" Steph asked.

Bobby nodded again, sitting down with his own cup of coffee. "He got a couple of stitches and a band-aid. I told him you were here so he'll probably stop in before he takes off. All of the TPD officers who were scraped up have been cleared. Detective Mason's leg is broken in two places, he is the worst."

We sat around for another hour, waiting for news. Bobby made a few rounds harassing nurses and checking in on who he could. Razor and Blaze joined us first, but Ranger was only twenty minutes behind them.

He sat down between Steph and myself and for the first time I noticed how tiered he looked. We'd all be running none stop for over a week and it was clearly catching up with all of us. I smiled when Steph kissed his cheek and filled him in.

"I've sent most of the guy's home." Ranger said once she was done. "Some will probably stop in tonight, but I think most will wait until tomorrow."

Steph nodded. "We should call in some contract workers for the next few days. Give everyone the chance to rest up. We've been running the boy's pretty ragged lately."

"Naw," Blaze said confidently. "We're tough, we can take it."

"Speak for yourself." Razor added with a yawn. "I could sleep for a week."

I nodded along, but said nothing. This last week had been of the most interesting in my entire life and we were finally getting to wrap all of the crazy up. The next few days would be full of police statements and paperwork. After that, Razor's idea of sleeping for a week sounded great; that or a nice, hot, six hour bath.

There was a soft knock on the door frame to get everyone's attention. "Julie," Bobby said. "Shilo's been moved into her room for the night. They doped her up though so you'd better hurry if you want to catch her before she falls asleep."

I leaped from my chair and hurried after him. Shilo's room was your standard hospital room. White walls with light blue trim. There were a few watercolors on the walls and a TV in the corner which someone had turned off. The shades on the window's had been left open reminding me that it was the middle of the night and that I hadn't slept in almost two days.

The thing that caught my attention though was the gorges head of flame red hair. Shilo smiled softly when I sat down next to her and I quickly weaved our fingers together.

"How are you feeling?" I asked.

She shrugged a bit. "Strong pain meds." She said. "I don't feel anything."

I squeezed her fingers to see if she could at least feel me holding her. It took a couple of seconds but she squeezed my fingers back and sent me another small smile. "I can feel that."

"Good."

"Are you ok?" She asked. "I saw your boot earlier."

I nodded. "I'm in way better shape then you are." and boy was that the truth. Her arm was wrapped where she'd been hit. I could see a wrap around her torso to keep her ribs in place. One of her knees was in a brace as well as her left wrist. Then to top it all off she was covered with bruises and cuts and her swollen eye was one of the worst I'd ever seen.

"I must look a mess." She said with a chuckle having watched me look her over.

I leaned forward and gently kissed her temple; since it was one of the only places, I could find that looked unharmed. "You look amazing."

She chuckled softly again. "I'm sleepy." She said.

"Go to sleep then. I'll be right here when you wake up." I promised.

"You don't have to sit here with me all night." She said softly, her words slightly slurred. "Go get some rest."

"Honey, wild dogs couldn't drag me away from this room."

She smiled again at my comment, then I watched as her eyes dropped and her breathing evened out. I meant every word of what I'd said, as soon as her room was empty I intended to crawl into bed with her.

I glanced over my shoulder and found both Steph and Ranger leaning against the far wall watching us.

"I'm not leaving." I said sternly.

Ranger shook his head. "I won't ask you too. I've spent a number of nights in that chair myself." He said nodding to the lounge chair on the other side of the hospital bed, where visitors usually sat.

"I seem too recall you spending most of those nights in the bed with me." Steph added with a little grin. "He usually waited until the nurses were done for the night, but sometimes they'd come in and chase him off." So great minds really do think alike.

I smiled at the image of some brave nurse telling Ranger to go back to the chair when Steph was in the hospital.

"In my own defense," Steph added quickly. "It's been a long time since I've had to stay here overnight and the last trip wasn't my fault."

"It almost never is Babe."

Steph came over and kissed the top of my head. "If you're interested Bobby said Ryan's in the room next door. Although, he's probably asleep by now."

I shook my head. "I can check on him later. I don't want to leave her right now."

She nodded. "I understand that." She turned and gave Ranger a kiss. "I'm going to go check on the boy's. They're spending the night with my folks and I want to see for myself that they didn't blow anything up."

Ranger chuckled and walked her to the door. Then he came back in and sat down in the lounge chair. I stayed in my spot, holding onto Shilo's hand and resting my head on the bed near her hip. The comfortable silence, accompanied with Shilo's gentle breathing, was about to put me to sleep when Ranger spoke.

"She really does love you."

I glanced up at him and then looked over at Shilo. Under the bruises, she looked comfortable. I brushed a lock of hair off her face and smiled when she leaned into my fingers. "I told you she did."

"Love is hard." He said.

"Not if you're with the right person." I countered.

"It's going to take some time for the guys to accept her again." He said. "They don't forgive easily."

"They'll get over it the first time she kicks Lester's ass in the ring again."

He chuckled at that and said. "Maybe your right. No one's blended into the group that quickly since we found Razor."

"Maybe it's a sign." I said.

He nodded. "Maybe your right." He repeated. Then he stood up and laid a kiss in my hair before letting himself out. Once he was gone, I stood up and assessed my options. I really wanted to lay with her, but I wasn't sure how to move her without hurting her and there wasn't enough room. In the end, I pulled the rocking chair over near her head and laid back in it with my feet up on the bed near hers.

It felt like I'd just closed my eyes when someone woke me back up by tugging on my arm. "Julie, wake up, come on quickly now."

I groaned, but opened my eyes to find Bobby standing over me. "What'smater?" I slurred. He helped me to my feet and started leading me out of the room. I blinked my eyes under the bright fluorescent's in the hallway and dug in my heels.

"Bobby?" Why were we leaving Shilo's room?

"It's Col. Lowry." He said. "He had a seizure like we were afraid he would and it doesn't look good. He wants to talk to you, now."

"Why me?" I asked picking up my speed a bit. Bobby's legs were longer than mine were and I practically had to jog to keep up with him.

"Because Shilo's in a medically-induced sleep and can't be woken right now. He asked for you second."

Bobby stopped outside a door down the hall and motioned that I should go in ahead. "He wanted to speak with you alone."

"Is he dying?" I asked bluntly.

Bobby nodded sadly. "There's nothing more the doctors here can do for him. Go quickly."

I opened the door and stepped inside, thrown off for a moment at how different this room seemed compared to Shilo's. The walls and the bedding were the same color, but with the light's dimmed and the different monitors all beeping it felt much heavier, darker.

Col. Lowry was lying in his bed. He glanced at me when I sat down and smiled softly. "Thank you for coming."

How did one respond to that in this setting? Saying something like 'anytime' felt careless as this man I hardly knew lay before me broken.

"I need you to do something for me." He continued before I had to think of a reply.

I nodded. "Can I get you anything?" I asked.

He shook his head. "No, is Shilo ok?" He asked. "You were just with her right?"

"She's fine." I nodded. "She's pretty banged up, but the Doctors here patched her together."

"Good, good. Do you know about Ryan?"

I nodded, even thought I hadn't yet checked on him myself. "He was sleeping, he'll be fine."

"I know Shilo's upset with me." He said, pausing to cough "She has every right to be." He continued.

"What do you want me to do?"

He reached over and took my hand, surprising me with how much strength was there in his old fingers. "I need you to make sure she doesn't hate me." He said. "Tell her I only meant it for the best. I was trying to look out for all of them. I never meant to hurt her."

"All of them?"

He nodded. "Peter, little Peter. He escaped the fire. Ryan got him out of the house too. I never told her, never told anyone. He's alive."

"Where is he?" I asked. This was amazing! Another one of her brother's was alive.

"I don't know." He said and I could see that he was starting to breathe slower. "The foster agency changed his name and hid him away. Witness protection made sure that no one knew who he really was or where he'd come from. I gave his adoption military clearance so even I don't know. He was safest that way."

"How can we find him then?" I asked. "If no one knew who he was."

"Shilo will find him." He said confidently. "She's good at that. She's persistent. She'll find him."

The Col. closed his eyes and I sat with him until his chest stopped moving. The weight in the room was heavy and I was sure that I'd never get used to death. I untangled my fingers from his and stood up quickly, jumping when a nurse touched my shoulder. I hadn't heard them come in.

Bobby took my hand and pulled me from the room. He lead me down the hall and back into Shilo's room, sitting with me in the rocking chair. I cried softly for a while, mourning for a man I didn't know, but who I now regarded as one of the strongest people I'd ever met. He'd done so much, just to help some kids who weren't even his. He'd died protecting them.

"Julie?" Bobby asked, once I'd stopped crying. "Are you ok?"

I nodded. "I'm fine Bobby."

"What did the Col. have to say?"

I shook my head. "I need to talk to Shilo about it first." The news about her youngest brother was too personal to share with anyone else first. I would wait until I had both her and Ryan together to share the news. "I'll make sure everyone knows after I've had a chance to speak with her."

Bobby nodded. "Alright, you should really get some rest."

"Have you called his son's yet?" I asked. "They should know."

Bobby shook his head. "Not yet, we figured we'd let Shilo speak with them tomorrow. The Doctor said she should be ok for that."

"Has anyone found Caesar yet?" I asked.

Bobby nodded, brushing some hair away from my forehead. "Yeah Niña, we found him."

"He's dead too isn't he?" I asked.

Bobby nodded. "Yes. Ranger and I have already spoken with his wife. She'll let us know when the memorial is."

I nodded, but didn't say anything. I was feeling thoroughly depressed and bummed out. I didn't like death. Bobby stood up and used the sheet she was laying on to move Shilo over a few inches, without hurting her. He came over and kissed my forehead pressing a bag into my hand.

"Ella brought you both some clothes, your pajamas are in there too. Get some rest."

I waited until he left before I stripped off everything but my shirt and underwear. I was far to tiered to brush out my hair or dig through the bag for a pair of sweat pants so I crawled in, as is, next to Shilo. I remembered rearranging the sheets so we were both covered, but I'm pretty sure I passed out before my head ever hit the pillow.

* * *

><p>~Darkrose<p>

Yeah, we're almost done and I'm loving the way this story it coming out. Only a few more chapters to go unless my muse takes over.

Question 11 (Are we on 11?) Have you seen 'One for the Money' yet? Did you like it?


	15. Chapter 15

I saw "One for the Money" at midnight when it came out and I loved it. Clearly, movies can't always stay right in line with the books and a few details were changed. I have always been a Katherine Heigl fan and this movie makes me love her even more. The only one who threw me off a bit was Ranger, I just didn't click with the actor. Overall, it's worth seeing and on my "buy later" list.

* * *

><p>"Te Amo"<p>

Chapter 15

**Pov- Julie**

I was awake and dressed, by the time Ranger and Steph stopped back at the hospital the next morning. A nurse had chased me out of Shilo's bed bright and early. I'd borrowed the hospitals shower, changed into some clean clothes, and after a quick breakfast in the cafeteria I was feeling much more human. Now, I was back in the rocking chair, where I'd been sitting for the last hour, watching Shilo's face while she slept.

Steph was the first through the door, but she was followed shortly by my favorite set of little brothers. I knew the boy's had been staying with Stephanie's parents while we were all busy. I bet they were excited to get out.

"Julie!" The both said cheerfully as they raced over to my side for morning hugs it had been too long since I'd been able to hang out with them.

I pulled Miguel into my lap and planted a kiss in his shaggy dark hair. "Morning boys."

"Morning Jewels." Anthony said and he held a muffin out to me. "Ella made your favorite this morning, I saved you one, cuz I'm your favorite."

"No you're not," Miguel said quickly, looking up at me for confirmation. "Is he?"

"I don't have a favorite." I reassured them. "I love you both very much."

I took the muffin from Anthony and set it down on the table near Shilo's bed. Ella's cinnamon muffins were one of the greatest things on this world and I noticed Steph had a whole bag of them with her. Probably she was going to pass them out to everyone who'd been injured in last night's take-down. "Thanks little Bro."

"How's she doing?" Stephanie asked, nodding towards Shilo.

Miguel snitched a bite of my muffin so I flicked him in the nose. I'd already eaten, but I'd save it for Shilo if she felt up to it when she woke up. I was guessing it had been a couple of days since her last good meal. "She'll be ok. The doctor was in here earlier to look her over. She hasn't woken up yet." I glanced up at Ranger over Miguel's lap. "You hear about Col. Lowry?" I asked.

He nodded. "Bobby called us last night."

"He wants Shilo to be the one who calls his son's."

"She is his adopted daughter." He said. "She should be the one to speak with them. Although, if she doesn't wake soon I'll probably have to call his eldest boy, Robert. I've meet him a couple of times before. They'll need to start making plans for the body."

"Have you been over to see Ryan yet?" Steph asked.

I nodded. "He was up earlier. His condition is not nearly as bad as Shilo's. Doc said he should be able to leave later today as long as he continues to progress. Bobby wants to move them both back to RangeMan for awhile so he can watch over them there."

There was a soft knock on the doorframe and Detective Morelli let himself in. There was a white bandage wrapped around his upper left arm where he'd been hit, but he was wearing a smile. Behind him was a tall man with white-blond hair and bright blue eyes that I didn't know. He looked very familiar though.

Steph gave them both a quick hug and waved them inside.

"Julie this is Connor Molony." She explained.

I shook hands with Connor and we exchanged smiles as he took the empty seat on the opposite side of them bed. I knew from Stephanie's stories that she and Hector had found Connor on the scene after Shilo and I had been kidnapped. I'd never meet him for myself.

"It's a pleasure." He said. "I'm very grateful for all of the work you've done to help bring Ryan home safe." He turned a smirk towards Shilo and added. "It's just too weird to think that after all of these years they're going to reconnect."

I smiled to myself thinking that it was going to get even weirder when I told them about Peter.

"It's like something out of a movie." Steph agreed.

"Have you seen Ryan yet?" I asked him, "He's in the room next door."

Connor nodded. "That's where your Detective Morelli found me. He was asleep though when I got here. The rest of the guys are chomping at the bit to come and see him, but I wanted to make sure he was feeling up for visitors first."

"You mean the rest of your band mates?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yep, I wasn't allowed to call them and tell them what was going on when both Ryan and myself disappeared. They've been worried."

"They called the police station last night and tried to file a missing person's on them both." Joe said. "All I could tell them was that Connor was being held in protective custody by RangeMan and that Ryan's whereabouts were unknown."

"I talked to them this morning." Connor continued. "I left out most of the personal details though. Ryan should be the one to tell them if he wants too."

"They don't have to hide anymore." Joe said confidently. "Unless they have more enemies we don't know about. John O'Donnell is dead and both of his brother's are behind bars, where they'll be staying for a good long while. We were able to get both Michael and Flynn for the guns. We found connections to link most of the Lynch's to the New York gun ring. All in all we've pulled a lot of criminals off the street."

"What about Gavin?" I asked. "He's not such a bad guy."

Joe nodded. "No, I don't think he is either. However, the evidence puts him in line with the gun ring as well as being a witness to murdering and kidnapping. Though his personal actions are not as harsh as some of the others he will get several years."

Shilo stirred for a moment and when she opened her eyes, I wasted no time in setting Miguel down and moving to her side. I leaned a hip against the edge of the bed and picked up her hand. I squeezed her fingers gently to let her know I was still here.

"Good morning." I said when she looked over at me.

She blinked at me a few times, shaking off the last of the drug induced fog. When her eyes were clearer she smiled warmly up at me.

"I love you." She said.

I had a big stupid grin on my face when I caught the confused looks from both Connor and Joe. I didn't care anymore if they knew. I was coming out and as soon as I was able to take her back home, I was going to make sure that every man at RangeMan knew she was off limits.

I leaned down and gave her a quick kiss on the lips, pulling back before we gave our audience a show. "Te Amo Shilo." I told her. "I love you too. You have some visitors."

She glanced around the room letting her eyes stop on Connor. "Hey you."

He grinned. "Hey yourself, how you feeling?"

"I've been better."

Steph stood up and took Anthony's hand. "Miguel, come on." She said. "Why don't we go find Uncle Bobby and make him eat something?"

"We can give him a muffin too," Anthony chimed in as they headed for the door.

Steph left with the boy's and Shilo narrowed her eyes at me. "She did that on purpose, didn't she?" She asked confidently. "What happened? Is Ryan ok?"

I nodded. "He's fine," I reassured her quickly. "He's asleep in the next room over, Doc say's he can leave tonight."

"Detective, why don't you and Mr. Malony also step out for a moment." Ranger suggested. "We have a lot to catch Shilo up on. She probably won't feel up to answering any of your questions until tomorrow anyway."

Joe nodded. "No rush, this case has pretty much solved itself." He said. "Just have Ranger give me a call when you feel up to talking, alright?" He added, looking at Shilo.

She nodded and promised she'd contact him no later then tomorrow. She'd have to give statements and details on the kidnapping. I was hoping that her and Ryan's testimonies would put both remaining O'Donnell brother's behind bars for the rest of their lives.

Once the room was empty except for Ranger and myself Shilo turned her eyes back to me and I saw a sadness in them that made me think she'd already guessed what we had to tell her.

"It's the Col. isn't it?" She said. "Bobby said he'd been hurt pretty badly."

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm sorry Shilo. He had a seizure during his operation. He passed away very early this morning."

She was quiet for a long time and I wiped a couple of tears from her cheeks when they fell. "Has anyone called Robert?" She asked. "Or the other boys? They need to know."

Ranger shook his head. "Not yet, we thought you might want to be the one to speak with them since you grew up with them. If any of them would like to come here the RangeMan jet will be at your disposal."

She nodded. "Thank you. I do want to call them myself."

Ranger pulled her phone out of his pocket and set it on her bedside table. "Take all the time you need." He said. "I'm going to see how quickly we can get you moved over to RangeMan. If you're interested, Bobby can watch over you there so you don't have to stay here."

"I don't think Bobby likes me too much right now." She said sort of sadly. She glanced over at me and returned the light squeeze on my fingers. "He's very protective of you."

"I am his favorite niece." I agreed. I had a feeling that the other guys would forgive Shilo fast enough after everything she'd done to protect me. Bobby would probably take the longest.

"Bobby's a top rate medic." Ranger said. "He'll do his job regardless of his personal feelings. It will take time for everyone to forgive and forget. Don't let it stress you out while you're recovering."

She nodded and offered him a small smile. "Thank you, I would like that if he's willing. I'm not a big fan of hospitals."

Ranger left the room, shutting the door quietly behind him. Shilo moved over and I accepted the quiet invitation to join her back on the bed. We lay together for a long while in comfortable silence while she thought. I kept my arms around her and held her close, reveling in the knowledge that I had her back safe and sound. I brushed the occasional tear from her cheeks and placed at least a dozen soft kisses in her hair.

"I never got the chance to talk to him." She said softly. "The last time I saw him, I yelled at him. I said some really awful things."

"He wasn't mad at you for that." I told her. "You had every right to be upset."

"He probably though I hated him." She shot back. "I know he was only looking out for me. I shouldn't have yelled at him. I lost my temper."

I kept a hold of her hand, rubbing soothing circles on her skin with my thumb as I told her about my conversation with the Col. right before he'd passed on. I told her that he'd loved her, that he'd only ever meant the best for her. I told her about the conversation I'd had with the Col. yesterday, about how the Col and Shilo's mom had always planned on moving her and her brother's to the states.

For now, I kept the part about Peter to myself. I wanted to speak with both Shilo and Ryan together and I was thinking it would be a conversation best left for after this mess was over.

"I can't believe he's known this whole time." She said. "I didn't think he'd accept my choice, and I was sure he'd never understand it."

I smiled. "He said he thought I would be perfect for you. I think he loved you enough not to care about your life style."

She was quiet, thinking, to herself before she spoke again. "I should call them." She said, looking at her phone.

I nodded and handed it over to her. Putting it off would only make it worse. "Do you want me to leave?" I asked, trying to respect her privacy. "I could wait in the hall."

Her grip on my hand tightened and she pressed farther into my side. "Please don't." She said. "Will you sit here with me?"

I nodded, "Of course."

**Pov- Shilo**

I took a deep breath and flipped my phone close. I'd started with Robert and that conversation had been the easiest. Robert had been a medic with the army for several years before he retired from the field to train in new medics. He accepted death as part of life in the same way that Bobby did. I'd always admired Robert for it. He'd also said he'd make sure to contact the necessary military contacts to inform them of the Col.'s passing.

Thomas was next in line, by age, and currently deployed overseas. I had no way to get a hold of him, but Robert had said he'd put in some calls to see if he could be reached.

Scott was third and the most unpleasant. All of the Col's sons knew about my past and how I'd come to join their family. They'd all welcomed me and loved me like a little sister, but I'd never gotten along well with Scotty. He'd been pleasant enough on the phone, though obviously upset at the news of his father's passing. Underneath though, the tone of his voice made me feel as though he blamed me. I couldn't really call him out on it either. I might not have pulled the trigger, but he'd been hurt protecting me.

Jimmy was fourth and the most upset over the phone. Jimmy was very close to his father and the news that he'd passed so suddenly caught him off guard. I'd spoken with him briefly and he'd agreed that since he was the closest he'd go to the Col's house and make arrangements for it and the Col.'s dog to be taken care of until the boy's could go over everything.

"Just one more." Julie said gently.

I nodded along and leaned back so I could kiss her jaw. "This is going to be the worst one, though." I told her. "Out of all of the boy's I'm closest to Adam."

"Why is that?" She asked. "You've never really spoken about them before."

I shrugged. "Adam and I just always got along. We are the same age, almost down to the day. We had some of the same interests too. We used to get into a lot of trouble together. The Col. Always used to say that it was my bad influence that kept Adam from joining the military like his other boys all did. Really Adam's just a pacifist with a love of food."

She smiled. "I can't wait to meet him."

I sighed and flipped the phone open hitting the button for speed dial one. He answered almost immediately with an audible growl. "Do you have any idea how early it is Shy?"

His voice was gruff with sleep. I'd forgotten that even though it was morning here in Jersey it was the middle of the night over in L.A. Julie chuckled at my side, clearly she'd heard his complaint.

"I'm sorry to wake you." I said gently. "It's important."

He groaned and I could just imagine him rolling onto his back and rubbing a hand over the two-day beard he always wore. "It's not like you to forget the time difference." He said. "What's up?"

Adam listened quietly while I gave him the story of what had been going on the last week. I went into more detail then I had with the others, feeling confident enough in my relationship with Adam to mention the beatings and the cell.

Julie's hold on me tightened and I knew I'd have to have this conversation one more time with her when we could get some time alone. I'd probably try to wait until we were back at Haywood. I desperately wanted to know her side as well.

"That's unbelievable." He said when I got to the part about Ryan.

"Yeah," I agreed. "It's kind of thrown me for a loop too. It never even crossed my mind that he would hide him from me."

We talked for a long time afterwards about the Col. Adam was sure he could get time off at the restaurant to come over. He said he'd fly in himself and that I should send the RangeMan plane for Robert and Scott. They lived near each other so they would be able to fly in together that way.

"How are you doing?" Adam asked, after I'd fallen silent.

I smiled warmly at the phone. This was why I'd really saved Adam for last. It wasn't just because I'd called them in age order, Adam was the only one who would think to asked me how I was doing. More than any of the others, he was my brother, and I knew that he loved me. "I'll live." I told him honestly. "I've got some friends here who are taking good care of me."

He chuckled, "You made some friends?" He said sarcastically. "They must be pretty special to have caught your interest."

"They are." I agreed. "I've got a hot girlfriend now too."

Julie beamed at me and pressed another kiss to the side of my head. I hadn't asked her directly yet, but I took her reaction to mean that she liked the title.

"Oh really," Adam said and I could feel him slipping into gossip mode. Adam prided himself on being able to get people to talk. He says it's because he's lovable. I think it's because he's nosy as hell. "What's her name?" He asked casually.

I chuckled as Julie's lips worked their way down my jaw line and bit my lip to keep from moaning when she nipped at my skin. "It's Julie." I felt her smile against my neck and knew she was teasing me on purpose.

"Will I get to met this Julie?" He asked.

"Yes," I promised. "As soon as you get here. She wants to meet you too."

We finished our conversation shortly and I made sure he had all of the information for RangeMan so he could find us once he got here. Ranger would probably send a car to pick him up anyway. As soon as I had the phone shut, Julie rolled over on top of me and pressed her lips to mine. She had her arms braced next to my head and her keens near my hips so she wouldn't put any weight on my ribs.

There was lots of kissing, nipping, and some roaming hands. Julie pulled back after a moment and met my heated gaze. "Was that an offer?" She asked breathlessly.

"Would you have me if it was?" I asked. "I tend to cause a lot of problems. I might not be the world's best girlfriend."

She smiled. "Bring it on." Then she kissed me again. Julie's lips were on my neck and I had one hand down the back of her pants when someone knocked on the door. With a groan, she pulled back, and called "Come in."

I kept my hands to myself as Julie lay on her side next to me. One of her long legs tossed casually over mine. She had her head resting in one hand while the other traced light trails up and down my arm. It was a comfortable intimate pose and I was glad for the confidence in her smile when she welcomed Razor and Blaze in. This was the first time I'd ever seen them out of uniform, with both of them being dressed in jeans and comfortable t-shirts.

"Hey guys," She said.

"Morning ladies." Razor greeted.

"It's one-thirty." Blaze said. "He means good afternoon."

Razor rolled his eyes and sat down in the chair on the opposite side of the bed. "No, I woke up forty-five minutes ago, I meant good morning." He looked over our seating arrangement and smiled at us. "You two an official thing now?" He asked, motioning between us.

Julie nodded, answering for us. "Yep, so back off."

Razor cursed under his breath and Blaze did a little victory fist pump with his good arm. "I knew it!" He pointed a stiff finger at Blaze. "Pay up!"

"You guys bet on this?" I asked.

Razor nodded. "It was obvious the moment you two laid eyes on each other there was some heat there." He continued. "My little brother came out of the closet when he was nine, so I've got a touch of Gaydar. Blaze, thought I was losing my mind."

Blaze handed over a sizable chunk of cash and then batted his eyes at Julie. "So this is why you never responded to any of my flirting Tiger?" He said playfully. "I was afraid I was losing my touch."

Julie chuckled. "Sorry Blaze, I love you, but you're not my type."

"You win some you lose some." He agreed.

We chatted easily for almost an hour before the Doctor came in to check on my progress. He kicked Blaze and Razor out, only letting Julie stay when I demanded it. He agreed as long as she moved back to the rocking chair and stayed out of the way.

He checked over my eye, my pulled knee, my sprained wrist, and half a dozen cuts and bruises around my body he thought deserved more attention. So far, he said everything looked good. My eye was the worst, but he said it looked like the swelling had gone down even since last night. I sighed when he told me he wanted another round of x-ray, mostly because Julie wouldn't be able to come with us downstairs.

She stayed near my side and offered to check on Ryan for me while I was gone so she could give me an update.

"I'll be here when you get back." She promised.

"See you soon."

**Pov- Julie**

I watched while they rolled her away and then let myself wonder into Ryan's room. Ryan was up and awake looking a million times better than he had last night. There were two stitched in his lip to go along with the dark bruise on his chin and I knew under the clothes his leg had been wrapped and cleaned where he'd been shot.

Morelli and Connor were both sitting with him and I was guessing from the legal looking notebook and the tape recorder in his lap that Joe had recently finished taking Ryan's statement on the kidnapping.

Ryan smiled when I came in and offered his hand to me. "It's nice to finally get a chance to meet you." He said warmly. "Shilo certainly talks enough about you."

I felt my cheeks warm up and shook his hand. "Like-wise she's told me many a story about you."

"All good I hope."

I nodded. "Mostly."

He laughed. "How is she doing?" He asked.

"She's doing better, the doctors are all positive. Her ribs are the worst and it will take some time before they all heal. She's down getting more x-rays done right now."

He frowned. "It was that Amos that hurt her." He said darkly. "I just got done talking with Detective Morelli. He was the one who worked her over. He seemed to be the one in charge of dealing out punishment for the older O'Donnell's."

"He was the one who cut her neck in the alley too." I added looking over at Joe. "I recognized him once I was able to get a good look at his face."

Joe nodded. "I'll have to look over the names again, but if he was in the garage, I'm sure we caught him."

Ryan scowled again. "I want him tarred and feathered."

"He's dead." I said easily. I hadn't given my official statement yet, but Joe sat and listened while I told my side of the garage story. I'd seen Amos grab Shilo when the gunfight started. It was that moment I recognized him as the man who'd brought her to see me in the O'Donnell's home.

I'd given chase and caught up to them. I mentioned Gavin showing up and the shot Amos had fired at me. I left out the bit about Gavin's sister, simply stating that it looked like they had some kind of family dispute. I wasn't sure if Gavin's sister had been brought in or not, but I didn't feel like it was my place to get her in trouble. She'd have enough problems to deal with right now anyway.

"Gavin was the one who shot him." I finished. "Would have liked to do it myself, but he saved her life. Mine too probably. There's not a doubt in my head that Amos would have killed us both."

Ryan made circular motions with his finger near his temple. "The dude was off his rocker."

Joe and I walked around the hospital floor, giving Ryan and Connor a chance to talk and call his other friends. After a while, we wound up in a secluded waiting room and I offered to give him my statement now. I wanted to get it out of the way.

He listened quietly while I spoke, asking questions when he wanted more details or jotting down notes he thought were important. His tape recorder was out on the table between us and I did my best to remember every detail. I started with the fire in Ryan's house and spoke about the kidnapping. When I was finished speaking I realized how little I had to contribute. Except for the one time they'd brought Shilo into see me, I'd never seen or had contact with the O'Donnell's while I'd been held captive by them.

When I was done, I shrugged my shoulders and sat back. "That was it."

"Your contributions to this case saved both of their lives." Morelli said, mirroring my relaxed pose by leaning back. "No way we would have found them before it was to late."

I shrugged, "Just doing my job."

He smirked as if I'd said something funny, but I didn't question him. I was too distracted by the small clear bag he'd pulled out of his pocket. I recognized the evidence bag. The top was sealed with a yellow sticker and info on the day it had been collected was written on the front in black marker.

"You spoke with an officer Herrera at the scene." He said, pushing the bag across the table towards me. "I believe you wanted to be the one who gave this back to her?"

"You're finished with it already?"

He nodded. "We checked the blood, but it all came back as Shilo's. We don't need it for anything now."

I picked up the small bag and turned it over in my hands, looking at the pendant inside. Shilo's family crest was still covered in dried blood, but after the week we'd just had I'd never forget what it looked like.

"Yeah, it's really important to her. Thank you."

"You might want to wash it off first." He suggested. "As it is, the blood might have permanently damaged the silver."

I nodded, I'd clean it before I gave it to her, but if it needed to be restored that would have to be her call.

I signed off that everything on the recorder was truth and shook Joe's hand as he walked out. I sat alone then for a while knowing that someone would come find me when Shilo was returned to her room. I jumped when someone knocked on the door frame and smiled as Razor and Blaze came in to join me.

"Deep thoughts?" Blaze asked, sitting down in the seat next to mine.

I shrugged. "Just thinking about what's going to happen now."

"Do you know if Shilo's going back to New York?" Razor asked.

It hurt to think about her leaving, but I kept my face blank. "We haven't had the chance to talk about it yet."

"What are you gunna do if she does?" Blaze asked. "Long distance can be hard on relationships and you guys haven't had the easiest road to begin with."

"I don't know." I admitted and for the first time let myself really think about it. I knew that I didn't want her to leave. I was positive I loved her. It was also unfair of me to forget that she had a life back in New York. She had friends, she had a home, and she would be missed. Would I be willing to leave with her if that's what she wanted?

"There's still time." Blaze said, patting my arm. "Bobby got the ok to move Ryan tonight, but Shilo's got to stay at least another night. Then she's gunna be recovering for awhile so you two will have lots of time to talk it all out."

"Among other things." Razor added suggestively wagging his eyebrows.

I tossed the water bottle Blaze was holding at him. "My sex life is none of your business."

"I was just kidding." He defended.

"That's hot." Blaze said and I could tell from the look on his face that was picturing Shilo and I in bed.

I hit him too. "Stop thinking about my girlfriend."

"Sorry Chika." He said unashamed. "She's smoking hot, and so are you. That fantasy's not going anywhere. "

I groaned. "You two are the worst."

"You love us." Razor said confidently.

"I'm your favorite." Blaze added, kissing my temple.

I smiled and let their teasing go because it was true. I loved them like brothers and teased them just as bad on an average day. Out of all of the men at RangeMan I'd always gotten along the best with Blaze and Razor. They were both 22, which made them the youngest Merry Men, and they had both started working for Ranger only a few months ahead of myself. We were the new kids.

"What's that?" Blaze asked, taking the bag Joe had left from my lap so he could look at it.

"It's Shilo's necklace."

Razor whistled and held out a hand so he could see it too. "The one she lost in the alley? That things got some miles on it."

"I'm impressed they found it." Razor added.

I smirked, thinking Shilo might have been right about her 'luck of the Irish' thing. "Lucky"

"You going to give it back to her?" Blaze asked.

I nodded. "Yep, Morelli left it for me after I gave my statement. They don't need it anymore and I know she really wants it back."

A nurse came in to let us know that Shilo was being brought back to her room and I excused myself to go and find her, stopping at the sink in the lounge room just long enough to scrub down Shilo's necklace. Not all of the blood would come off, seeing as I didn't have a brush to get between the small holes in the chain, but it looked better than it had before.

"Were heading out anyway." Blaze said giving me a hug.

"Yeah, gotta get back to the grind now that this mess is winding down." Blaze said. "Regular shifts are being posted tonight to get the guys all back on track. I think Tank's giving me the morning shift."

"I'm not going to miss the twenty-four hours days."

I waved as they headed off and then hurried down the hall to Shilo's room. As I reached for the door it opened on its own pulling back to let Ranger out.

He smiled gently at me as he stepped out and said. "She's expecting you."

I felt my heart jump. How long had she been in her room before the nurse had come to get me? Had she and Ranger just had their 'talk' without me? What would he have said to her? I hoped he hadn't yelled at her or placed all of the blame for this mess on her. It wasn't her fault.

I recomposed my face and hurried to her side. She looked tired, but there was a smile on her face when she looked at me.

"There you are." She said.

"I told you I'd still be here."

"You don't have to stay with me." She said.

I gave her my best 'yeah right' look and dared her to send me away. If she was staying another night, so was I.

She moved over so I could sit next to her and I wasted no time in grabbing her hand. Funny how I hadn't noticed how anxious I'd been to get back to her until she was here for me to hold. She leaned into my side and I could tell she was getting tired.

"You've had a long day."

She nodded. "That obvious I'm exhausted?"

"The bags under your eye's look like bruises."

She smiled. "They might be, I'm sore all over the place."

"The doc's find anything new?" I asked.

She shook her head. "Nope, just what they saw last night. I have four cracked ribs, but none of them are broken. I have to spend at least another night here."

I kissed her temple and wondered how to bring up Ranger. Might as well just go for the throat.

"My Dad wasn't too hard on you was he?" I asked. "I saw him leave."

She smiled at me and just said. "He loves you."

"Yeah, but he can be a real hard ass at times. If he gave you a hard time about all of this I'll kick his ass for you, I swear."

"He didn't give me a hard time." She promised. "Just lots to think about."

"Like what?" He better not have tried to scare her away.

She shook her head. "I'll tell you later. Right now I'm about an inch from dead."

"I brought you something." I told her, rolling onto my side so I'd have a good look at her face. I could tell she was struggling to stay awake, but I'd gotten her attention.

"You didn't have to get my anything." She said quickly.

I rolled my eyes and pulled the silver chain from my pocket. I held it up so the pendant would be at eye level and gave her a chance to see it. "We found it." I told her gently. "I thought you would want this back."

She raised a hand and let it close around the pendant rubbing her thumb over the crest etched there. "Thank you." She said and I saw the emotion in her eye's, even if she didn't let the tears fall. "I never thought I'd see it again."

I helped her get the chain over her frizzy hair and laughed when she complained about the amount of time it was going to take once she'd been release for her to tame it again.

"It looks amazing." I told her honestly. "You always look beautiful."

She signed and pressed into my side, one hand on her chest, absentmindedly rubbing at her necklace. I watched her face until her breathing deepened and her face relaxed as she fell asleep.

"Good night Shilo."

* * *

><p>~Darkrose<p>

R&R

Sorry, for the little cliffy with Ranger and Shilo's talk I'll get to that probably in the next chapter. I'm super excited to work on it.

Question 12~ Steph/Ranger or Steph/Joe? I'm curious to know if my story is appealing to more Babe's or Cupcakes.


	16. Chapter 16

It's probably pretty obvious from this story that I'm a Babe through and though, although I enjoy a good Tart story now and then too, or anything about Hector. Any stories I write under JE Fanfic will be Babe based, although, I'm finding myself more and more drawn to Julie's character.

Does anyone know of another story that has Julie as the main character? I can't find any.

* * *

><p>"Te Amo"<p>

Chapter 16

**Pov- Shilo**

I woke slowly, my body still stiff and my eyes heavy. I felt like I'd been sleeping a lot the last few days, but it never felt like I'd had enough. I rolled carefully onto my side and smiled at the sight of a very naked Julie sprawled out on the sheets next to me, sound asleep. That might have something to do with the soreness too.

I carefully slid out of bed so I wouldn't wake her up and headed for the shower in Julie's bathroom. My brother's were coming into town today and I had asked to be part of the group sent to pick them up from the airport. It would be a few hours before we left, but I wanted to settle a few things around RangeMan before I faced them.

I showered quickly using the stool Bobby had found for me to keep extra weight off my ribs. Once I was out, I sent him a text letting him know I'd be down in a few minutes. This had become standard procedure for us in the days since I'd left the hospital. True to Ranger's word, I never felt any animosity from Bobby while he treated me, but I could tell we would eventually need to talk. Hopefully, with enough time, and the progress I was making with Ranger, he'd come to see that I'd only ever meant the best for Julie.

I slid into clean panties and winced as I bent over to pull on a clean pair of black sweatpants. I added a black tank top and piled my wet hair up onto my head to keep it out of the way. Julie was still asleep as I snuck past her and I felt myself smile as she scooted closer to my side of the bed.

I stopped in the kitchen to grab a bottle of water and get my slippers when I noticed the bottle left on the counter. The bottle was about seven inches high and made of twisted, dark purple glass. The image on the front was of a dark orchid and I grinned at the note pinned under it.

I slid the piece of paper towards me and caught the scent of black orchids on it as I opened it. All it said, written in Julie's neat script, was "Hurry Back"

I took a moment to reign in my smile before heading out into the hall. I stopped by the open door to my old RangeMan room and glanced in to see both Ryan and Connor talking. After being released from the hospital, Ryan had realized that he no longer had a home to go back to. Ranger had given him my apartment at RangeMan to use while he was under Bobby's care, since it was obvious I'd be spending all of my time in Julie's room anyway. I knew he was hoping to be out of the way as quickly as possible, but it was taking time for the insurance company to get back to him on everything he'd lost in the fire.

Ryan came over when he saw me and kissed my forehead. "Morning Shy."

"Good morning." I peeked around his shoulder and waved at Connor too. "Hi Connor."

"How you feeling?" He asked, joining us in the doorway.

I shrugged. "Better every day. I'm on my way to see Bobby right now."

"He just cleared me." Ryan said happily.

"What are your plans now?" I asked.

He pointed at Connor. "I'll be staying with Connor until I can get things settled with my insurance. Then I guess I'll be hunting for a new place to stay."

"What about you?" Connor asked looking over at me. "What are your plans?"

I smiled. "Still working on the details. I'll keep you informed."

I turned to leave, but Ryan caught my arm. "I know Col. Lowry's boys are flying in today and you need to spend time with them, but if you can make it, the band's having dinner tonight at a club downtown. I'd love you to meet the rest of my friends."

"I'll try." I promised. "I know Robert's going to handle most of the funeral stuff, but I'm sure they'll want a full run down on what happened and I've got to talk to TPD today too."

"Sounds like a blast." Connor said, rolling his eyes and I smiled at how easily the two of us had become friends.

They let me leave when I turned and I rode the elevator down to Bobby's clink on three. He was waiting when I walked in and I took my standard place on his makeshift examination table. He checked over my cuts and gave me a clean bill of health. The mark on my neck would scar since the stitches had been ripped, but I wasn't too worried about it.

"Continue to take it easy on your ribs." He said, once he'd lowered my file. "It will probably be a month before they're fully healed, but other than that you're progressing just fine. Have you noticed any dizziness or loss of appetite?"

Nope, I was feeling stronger everyday and I felt better this morning then I had in the last several days. I finally knew what I was going to do. I stood to leave and waited until Bobby looked up at me. "Thank you for taking care of me." I said honestly.

He nodded. "Just doing my job."

"You didn't have to agree to treating me here, I could have stayed at the hospital."

"Ranger wanted you both moved here. It was easier this way."

I shook my head. "I'm sorry for the part I've played in all of this Bobby." I said, hoping with every fiber in my being that he believed me. "I love Julie. I never meant to put her in harms way."

He thought for a moment and I was starting to worry that he wouldn't respond when he nodded. "I know that." He said easily. "I think everyone here got that impression when Julie pinned you to the wall on five."

I blushed at the memory. Julie and I had attended the morning meeting, the morning after I'd come to stay at RangeMan and she'd officially announced our relationship to all of her friends and coworkers. I think she'd been caught off guard by how easily they all took the news. In fact, I was betting, that like Razor, most of them had already guessed.

To follow up her announcement she'd pressed me into the wall and kissed me until my ribs were screaming at the lack of oxygen. I hadn't minded, but Ranger had followed up by reminded us that public displays of affection were best left off the work floor.

"Yeah, that might not have been the best place."

"She loves you." Bobby interrupted.

I nodded. "I know."

"I think you're going to do great here."

I raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

He smiled at me and leaned back against the counter behind him. "Who do you think suggested to Ranger that the best way he would be able to, not only get to know you, but keep an eye on you while you courted his daughter, would be to offer you a job here."

"You got him to offer me the job?"

Bobby nodded. "You have all of the skills that Ranger looks for in the men he hires. You're smart, your combat trained, you know what you're doing. Few people could have handled the satiation you were in with as much success as you achieved. You not only lived with minor injury to yourself, you managed to get both the other hostages out alive as well. Face it, your good. I may have pointed it out to him, but Ranger was already thinking about it."

I couldn't help the small smile on my face as I gathered my things and prepared to leave. I was starting to realize that the hard exterior all of the Merry Men wore was just a cover to scare people. They really were a bunch of loveable guys.

"For what it's worth." He added. "I think you'll be good for Julie too."

"Thanks Bobby."

He didn't say anything more as I let myself out and headed up to five. For the last three days, since Ranger had come to speak with me at the hospital, I hadn't been able to get his offer out of my head. When I'd come back to my room after my second round of x-ray's I'd been surprised to find Ranger sitting in my room alone, waiting for me.

I'd been prepared for just about anything, but like I was learning about the rest of Ranger's Merry Men, Ranger was full of surprises. He hadn't yelled at me. If fact he hadn't even been mad at me. He'd told me that he loved his daughter and if I hurt her I'd regret it. Then he'd asked if I was interested in a full time position at RangeMan.

I ignored the looks of the other Merry Men as I walked through five and knocked on Ranger's office door. I'd been avoiding five, since coming back to RangeMan in order to give the guys some space.

"Come in."

I pushed the door open and let myself in, making sure to close the door behind myself. I didn't want anyone trying to overhear our conversation.

"Good morning, Shilo." Ranger said, his voice even and powerful as he watched me walk in.

I nodded as I sat down. "Good morning."

He was silent, watching me while he waited for me to start.

"I've been thinking about what you said." I started, jumping straight to the point since I knew Ranger wasn't one for extra chit-chat. "I think I could be a great addition to your team here if you still have a place for me."

He smiled. "I hoped you would pick to stay with us."

"Marks not going to be happy with us." I added, thinking about my boss back in New York. I'd only worked with Mark for a short time, but he's quickly become my only real friend in New York. I'd miss him once I moved.

Ranger laughed, "No, in fact he's quite livid with me for stealing you away from him. His exact words were that I 'poached' his best computer person."

"You already spoke to him?"

Ranger nodded. "He called me yesterday to see where the case was going and to ask how quickly you'd be able to return. I told him not to expect you back."

"Why?" I asked. "You didn't know if I'd say yes or not."

"I thought it was a safe bet." He said easily. "The men here like you even if they're still giving you a hard time, and they don't always take to everyone who comes in. Plus there's Julie to factor in and while I might not understand the two of you, after having met my Stephanie, I do understand love."

He picked up his phone and dialed a short inter-office number. Someone answered and he said "My office, now." Before hanging the phone back up.

We sat silently for a moment until there was another knock on the door. Ranger called out for the visitor to come in and Razor let himself into the office.

"What's up Boss?" Razor asked, and then his eyes landed on me. "Morning Shilo."

I smiled. "Hi."

"Come in." Ranger said. "Take a seat." He added nodding to the empty chair next to mine.

Razor shut the door and came in, taking the seat next to me with a very confused look on his face. I kept my mouth shut not sure exactly what Ranger had wanted Razor for. Razor was dressed in full RangeMan black. He'd gotten his sling off the same day I'd come back to Haywood, but he was still off field work, waiting to be cleared medically by Bobby.

"Razor, your first six months here have been exemplary." Ranger started.

Razor nodded, but kept his face blank. "Thank you Sr."

"Hector came to see me a few days ago. He thinks you're ready for full field work. He's been very pleased with how quickly you've completed your training with him."

"He's been a great mentor to me." Razor said.

Ranger nodded. "Hector doesn't usually ask to work with new team members. The last time he took an interest in a new employ was when Stephanie joined us. He is also interested in taking on your training Shilo." Ranger said looking over at me.

"Me?" Why would Hector want to train me?

"Her?" Razor said, and then he looked at me with a big smile on his face. "You're staying with us? What about New York?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm staying here. I just came in here to talk to Ranger about it." We both looked back to Ranger who was sitting behind his desk watching us.

"I want the two of you to team up together." He said. "Official RangeMan partners. Hector will continue to provide mentoring to you both and act as your first stop should you have any questions."

"That's awesome." Razor said excited, patting my arm. "We're going to be a great team."

"I thought you and Blaze were partners." I said, looking to Ranger for clarification.

Ranger shook his head. "Razor and Blaze are both still fairly new to the company. We usually give new guys about six month, to see how well they settle in with the group before finding them a permanent partner to work with. The two of you hit it off right away. We'll start you off with security and install. Razor, I know Hector's been teaching you about the different equipment we use here. Maybe we'll have you handle some of the bond work too. As much as I hate to admit it, the core team and myself are not as young as we used to be."

"What about Blaze?" Razor asked.

Ranger smiled. "Julie is also ready for full field work. She and Blaze have been close friends for awhile now. Looks like another strong pairing to me."

"He's going to love that." Razor agreed. "Have you told him yet?" He asked Ranger.

Ranger shook his head. "No, I will speak with them both after the morning meeting and we'll announce the new pairs at tomorrow's meeting. Shilo, you can start with Hector next week, but no fieldwork until you're cleared with Bobby. That goes for you too Razor."

Ranger dismissed us both shortly after that and we left the office quickly. Razor wrapped his arms around my chest and picked me up off my feet. He spun us in a circle and gave a victory whoop, which I would have joined had I been able to breathe.

"Oh sorry, Shilo." Razor said, setting me down when he realized I was in pain. "Your ribs still bothering you?"

I nodded. "Yeah, they're going to take a while to heal."

"This is so great." He continued. "You're going to love working with Hector. He's freaky smart and he can fence too. He'll teach you all of the Tech work behind RangeMan and he's been telling me about some of his under cover work. You should see some of his knife tricks."

"Hector fences?" I knew Hector was good with knives, maybe that's why he'd taken an interest in Razor and myself, but I'd never have guessed that he also fenced.

Razor nodded. "Yep, He's pretty good at it too. I've learned a lot from him. He's kind of quite, but he know's his stuff."

We parted ways on the staircase, Razor heading down to the gym, while I let myself out on four. I could still hear Ryan and Connor talking, but I skipped past their room, letting myself back into Julie's apartment.

The apartment was still quiet when I let myself in and kicked off my slippers in the doorway. I padded gently over to Julie's bedroom door and found her lying right where I'd left her. She rolled over and smiled at me, the sheet thrown over her hips did little to hide her body from me.

"Morning." She said on a yawn, stretching out like an exotic jungle cat. Her caramel colored skin looked right at home amongst the earth-toned bedroom.

I crossed the room, stepping out of my sweats, before crawling back into the bed. "Morning." I said, placing a kiss on her neck before lying down next to her and snuggling close.

"You go check in with Bobby?" She asked wrapping an arm around my waist.

I nodded. "Yep, I'm all good, except for the ribs."

Julie pressed gently into my side and tossed one of her legs over my hips, molding into my side. "You were gone for almost an hour; he didn't give you a hard time did he?" She asked.

"No," I promised. "Bobby and I are fine. He likes me."

"Really?" She asked.

I nodded. "Yep, actually I was talking to Ranger."

She stilled and I rolled onto my side so I could see her face. "What did he want?" She asked. "You never told me what he wanted at the hospital either."

"I know, we were talking about my return to New York now that the case is over and I'm healing up."

She frowned, suddenly becoming very interested in my hair, which was laying on the pillow near her. "When are you leaving?" She asked and the little hint of pain in her voice just made me more excited to tell her that I was staying.

"I'm not." I told her, smiling at the confusion on her face when she looked back up at me. "Ranger offered me a job here, full time. As long as you're ok with it, I'll take the offer."

She moved fast, rolling over so she was straddling my waist, her hands braced on either side of my chest. Her nose brushed against mine as she stared at me. "He did?"

I nodded, biting my lip to try to control my smile. "Yeah,"

"Of course I want you to stay. What did you say?"

"Yes, he made Razor my field partner. I start next week."

She smiled and then her lips were on mine. I wrapped my arms around her, my fingers playing with her hair or running down her bare back. Her round little breasts pressing into my chest. I moaned as her lips moved down my neck and her tongue flicked out to taste the hollow at the base of my throat.

"Julie," I said on another moan as she bit down on the point where my shoulder and neck met, marking my skin. I could feel her body pressed into ever line of mine and her scent filled my nose, threatening to distract me from the rest of the things I had to do today.

"Shh," She said gently before cooing something to me in Spanish. Sweet things, dirty things, little words of love. I only knew a few of the one's she'd taught me, but it wasn't hard to guess their general meanings from the inflections in her voice and the heat in her eyes.

I loved it when she spoke Spanish to me and I felt myself flush at the rush of moisture between my legs as she moved down to my waist. Maybe Hector would include language lessons in my training if I asked him nicely.

I felt her soft hands slip under my shirt and remembered why I was trying to get her attention before. We had to stop now or there would be no hope. "Julie," I said again jumping when her finger brushed over one of my hard nipples, pinching lightly at my skin. "I have to be in the garage in twenty minutes. Lester's waiting for me."

She growled, the vibration from her lips did wonderful things to my skin and I was wondering how late I could be before Lester came looking for me. I felt Julie pause in her exploration of my skin and groaned at the lost of contact as she fixed my shirt and climbed back up my body.

"I forgot your brother's were coming in today." She said. "You're picking them up at the airport?"

I nodded and said, "Yeah, I wanted to be there when they land. They're going to have lots of questions. A familiar face will help them relax."

She kissed my neck again and my hips bucked against her when she ran a finger along the ruined seam of my panties. She lifted the finger to her lips and grinned at me before licking it clean. "We can finish celebrating tonight then." She said her dark eyes hooded and lustful. "After all, we have lots of time now."

I nodded. "Tonight," I vowed. "Ryan and his friends are going to a club tonight for dinner, they invited us. If we've got time will you go with me?"

She nodded. "Love too. I'm looking forward to seeing you dance." I grimaced, it had been a really long time since I'd danced.

We forced ourselves out of bed and moved around the room to get ready. I heard the water turn on in the bathroom and knew Julie was taking a shower. I hadn't had Julie in the shower yet and it took nearly a full minute to remind myself that I didn't have the time to take her right now. You'll have all night, I promised myself and set about finding clothes to wear for the day.

I tightened the wrap around my waist before sliding into a clean pair of panties and a pair of light blue jeans. I found a cream colored, button up blouse and settled on a pair of matching cream-colored heels. I looked at myself in the bathroom mirror and smiled. I brushed out my hair and tied it back into a messy bun before adding just a touch of dark makeup to my eyes.

My pendant hung around my neck, where it had been since Julie had given it back to me and for once I was confident in wearing it proudly on the outside of my clothing. I smiled at it, catching it shimmer in the light of the bathroom and ran my finger over it. Once I was settled in Trenton, I'd have to look into getting my name changed back. I didn't have to hide anymore.

I took one last look in the mirror and shrugged. There wasn't anything I could do about all of the cuts and burses, the worst, still being the dark ring around my right eye. I walked back into the room and pulled my old Army jacket out of my bag. I let my fingers run over the camo fabric and smiled at the patches on it. I didn't wear the jacket to often anymore, but I liked to wear it around my brothers to remind them that I could still play with the big boys. That and Scotty hated it when I wore the jacket with civilian clothing and I was still smarting over the fact that he was blaming the Col.'s death on me.

I slid the jacket on and grabbed my phone getting ready to head out when I heard Julie's voice behind me.

"Dios"

I glanced up to find Julie standing near the bathroom room, her eyes locked on me, wrapped in nothing but a plush white towel.

"What?" I asked, looking over my outfit. "Too much?" Maybe I should just wear RangeMan black.

She stalked over to me and grabbed the collar of my jacket, pulling me to her for another panty-wetting kiss. I pulled back before we could lose ourselves and she smiled at me. "Apparently ink isn't my only fetish point." She said, running a finger down the edge of my jacket. "You look amazing in this coat."

Her eye drifted to some of the army patches along the sleeves and she pointed to one. "What's this one for?" She asked. "I recognize most of the other ones."

The patch in question was my personal favorite. "It's the dead man's hand." I explained. The patch was a picture of five playing cards: the ace of spades, the ace of clovers, and the two black eights. The fifth card in the hand was face down leaving its identity unknown. "It was the patch for my old Army team."

I gave Julie one last kiss before rushing out the door. I took the elevator and arrived in the garage right at nine. Lester was waiting by one of the RangeMan SUV's and he grinned when I stopped in front of him. "Nice jacket."

"Thanks."

"Trying to prove a point?" He asked as we climbed into the car and he started it up.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I said innocently.

Lester maneuvered the roads like a pro and we got waved into a private parking lot once Lester flashed his RangeMan ID to the airport security. The private lot put us closer to the runway where private planes landed and we left the car there to go check on arrival times.

We'd only been waiting for ten minutes when Adam's flight was announced. I grabbed Lester's hand and practically dragged him to the right gate, standing on my toes to see over the people in front of us.

Adam was the last of the first class passengers to get off the plane and I nearly tackled him. Adam caught himself at the last minute and dropped his bag so he could wrap his arms around my waist and give me a big hug.

He pressed a wet and sloppy kiss to my forehead. "Hey there Shilo."

He spun us in a circle and I winced when he set me down.

"You ok?" He asked, looking over my face.

I nodded. "I've had worse." and that was the truth.

He ran a knuckle lightly down the bruise near my eye and frowned. "The man who did this is in jail right?" He asked.

"He's dead." I said.

Adam smiled. "Even better."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "What happened to your anti-violence attitude? Where's my loveable pacifist? The boy who'd rather run away from home then join the army like his dear old Dad?"

"I don't believe in war." He said, lowering his voice so we wouldn't be overheard. "I think there has to be a better way for countries to solve their differences. You are far more important to me, however, and I'd personally see to it that any man who did you harm, got it back ten times over."

I kissed his cheek. "It's nice to know you still care."

"I might not tell you every day," He started. "but, I love ya little sis. Never forget that."

Adam refused to let me take his bag so I grabbed his hand and lead him over to where Lester was waiting for us off to the side of the crowd.

"Is this your hot girlfriend?" Adam asked, quickly lightening the atmosphere and becoming the lighthearted jokester I knew and loved.

Lester gave a bark of laughter and I elbowed Adam in the side. "No, this is Lester Santos. I work with him here at RangeMan. Lester this is my brother Adam Lowry."

"Nice to meet you." Lester said, offering a hand for a very manly handshake. "Your father was a great man, I'm sorry we couldn't meet under better circumstances."

"It's nice to meet you too." Adam said with a smile that didn't quite mask the sorrow in his eyes. "Thanks for helping look after Shilo."

Lester grinned. "She's a handful."

"Tell me about it."

"Hello," I interrupted, pointing at myself. "Standing right here."

Adam just grinned and pulled me closer to his side. "You're still a pain in the ass."

"The RangeMan jet's supposed to land in half an hour." I told him, trying to change the subject away from myself. "We can put your things in the car and go wait down on the runway for it."

Adam hooked his arm through mine while we walked. "So," He said casually looking around when we got to the luggage rack. "Where's your hot girlfriend?" He asked, this time putting air quotes around the word 'girl friend'.

I rolled my eyes. "Back at RangeMan, she had things to do this morning and couldn't come with me."

"Sure," He said sarcastically. "I'm still having trouble believing that you made friends with real living people."

Lester laughed again and I shot him a dark look.

"You can meet her later." I promised him.

"I'll believe it when I see her."

Adam and I continued to harass each other while we loaded his things into the SUV and headed over to wait near the garage where the RangeMan plane would land. To my dismay, Lester joined in on the teasing and soon it was two against one in favor of the boys.

"At least I actually have a girlfriend." I shot back, sticking my tongue out at them. I couldn't remember the last time Adam had been in a serious relationship, if he ever had.

Adam grinned and said. "Touché" with a nod of his head.

"Well I'm married." Lester said. "So I win."

"You are?" I asked, I hadn't known that.

"Yep," He opened his wallet and showed me a picture of himself sitting outside in the grass with a very attractive woman. She had short, bright blond hair and dark brown eyes. "Her name's Heather." Lester said with a soft little smile. "She's a nurse over at Saint Francis. Our fifth anniversary is next month."

"Congratulations, she's so pretty. How'd she fall for a fool like you?"

He ran a hand over my head, messing up my hair. "Oh she's just as big a dork as I am, but she keeps me in line." He smiled. "I'll have to introduce the two of you."

The three of us sat along the edge of the RangeMan garage and chatted while we waited for the plane to land. When it did Lester hung back to let Adam and I greet the others. Robert, Scott and Jimmy all filed off with their bags and I moved forward to take one from Robert.

"Hey Shilo." He said, hooking an arm around my neck to pull me in for a light hug.

I hugged him back, wrapping my arms around his waist, and offered a small smile. Their arrival brought back into focus why we were all here and the air was uncomfortably thick with the grief over Col. Lowry's passing. I watched as Adam embraced his brothers and was sad when neither Scotty or Jim came over to give me a hug.

Robert took my hand in his and smiled gently at me, seeing where I was looking. "Give them some time," He said softly, guessing my train of thought. "It was a long flight."

I nodded along and helped the three of them load their bags into the back of the SUV with Lester. Once everyone was settled, I took my place back in the passenger's seat and Lester pulled out into traffic.

**Pov- Julie**

I watched as Shilo hurried out the door, enjoying the way her jeans hugged the firm curves of her backside. Once she was gone, I set about righting myself for the day. I brushed my hair out and left it down before dawning my usual RangeMan black uniform.

I made it down to five with only seconds to spare before the morning meeting started. I slid into my place next to Blaze , just as Ranger and the core team walked in. Blaze caught my eye and made a show of looking at his watch. I rolled my eyes, but didn't have the chance to say anything as Ranger started talking.

The meeting was fairly standard. We'd gotten our bond on Michael settled and those involved could expect their cut of the money by the end of the day. An alarm had gone off at one of our high-end client's houses last night, but we hadn't found a reason for the breach, so we were going to continue monitoring them. Information would be given for Col. Lowry's funeral service as soon as possible should any of the men wish to attend the funeral. They all would, RangeMan was nothing if not sportive.

Ranger dismissed the group calling out for me over the light talk that had started.

"Julie, could I speak with you a moment?"

I moved over to his side. "What's up Dad?"

"Come with me." He said easily, heading out of the room. He gave Tank a look as we left and lead me down the hall to his main office.

He opened the door, letting me pass into the office before closing it behind us. I suddenly had flash backs to being sent to the principal's office and wondered if I'd possible done something wrong.

Ranger had just taken his seat when there was another knock at the door.

"Come in." Ranger called easily.

The door swung open and I watched as Blaze and Tank came in. I could see the outline of Tank's brace under his shirt and wondered how much longer he'd have to keep his shoulder immobilized. I knew the cast was driving him nuts. Tank closed the door and nodded that Blaze should take the seat next to me.

"You can stop looking so guilty." Tank said with a chuckle. "You're not in trouble."

Blaze let out a breath and I let myself relax. "Then what's up?" I asked.

"Julie I'm sure Shilo spoke to you this morning," Ranger started. "but, I want to make sure that Blaze has heard the good news."

"What news?" Blaze asked looking thoroughly confused.

Ranger just grinned. "Razor has been moved to full time field work. He'll be partnering with Shilo permanently, since she has decided to stay with us here at RangeMan."

"That's great."

Ranger held up a hand to stop him, so he could continue. "The two of you are also ready for full field work. Blaze, Tank has given me wonderful reviews about your progress. I think the pair of you will make a good RangeMan team. What do you think?"

Blaze smirked at me and I smiled back. I'd expected that Ranger would make Blaze a full time partner, since his reviews were easily as strong as Razor's had been. I'd never guessed, however, that he'd name me as Blaze's partner.

"Me too?" I asked, unsure.

He nodded. "I promised to trust in your abilities. I think you're ready. What would you guys say to working with Tank and Lester on taking over more of the skip tracking side of RangeMan?" He asked. "Steph is looking to end her field work, in order to spend more time with the boys and the client side of RangeMan. With the core team and myself also getting older; it's time we brought in some younger blood to help us chase the lowlifes around."

I nodded along and Blaze looked even more excited then I was. I'd noticed in the last few months that Ranger and the core team guys were starting to do less field work. While I knew they were all still in great shape, there was no denying the fact that Ranger would soon be turning 43 and I knew Bobby and Tank were both a couple years older than he was.

Ranger caught my eye and I smiled, leaning back in my seat. "Sounds like a great plan. Trenton will still have one bad-ass Manoso keeping everyone in check."

Tank chuckled. "I think she just called you old."

"Trust me," Ranger said, mirroring my little grin. "This bad-ass has still got it."

Ranger and Tank talked a little more about what our new role around RangeMan would be. Tank was Razor's primary teacher and Bobby was mine. As a new partnership, however, Lester would be taking on the bulk of our training, showing us the ropes with catching skips and the police side to that work. As well as doing the high-end skips for Vinnie, RangeMan also took on some high-end skips for other bond agencies as well. Mostly ex-military guys who'd gotten in trouble with the law and no one else wanted to risk having to hunt down.

"You start next week." Ranger said, "Lester will have more information for you then. Meet him in the gym at 0500."

Blaze and I left the office both of us waiting until we'd hit the stairwell before busting into a little victory dance. "This is going to be awesome." Blaze cheered. I agreed, and to celebrate I challenged him to a match in the gym.

"Oh you're going down."

Razor was in the gym, running on a treadmill, since he wasn't supposed to over use his arm and I'm sure he knew the moment we walked in that we'd just gotten our good news from Ranger.

"Hey guys," He called over to use with a knowing smile. "What's up?"

Blaze kicked off his shoes and pulled his t-shirt over his head. "Just going to kick Julie's ass. No big deal."

"Have you been cleared to spar?" Razor asked looking at me.

I nodded and added my shoes and t-shirt to the pile of clothes. "Yep, yesterday. I don't have to wear the boot anymore either. I should still take it easy, but I figure I don't need both of my feet to beat Blaze anyway."

A couple of the other guys who were working out nearby chuckled and soon we had the whole gym's attention. Blaze and I exchanged blow's and lock holds for nearly fifteen minutes before my bad ankle did start to give me problems and I was forced to concede the victory to Blaze.

"I'll get you next time." I vowed as I sat down hard next to him on the mats.

"I don't doubt that you will." He agreed.

We caught our breath and chatted with Razor for a bit before I excused myself to change into clean clothes. When I came back down to five I caught sight of Shilo on the floor with a group of guys I didn't recognize, but knew they had to be Col. Lowry's son's.

Shilo and her brother's were speaking with Ranger and Lester. Ranger nodded at whatever she'd said and then nodded in the direction of RangeMan's largest conference room. They'd probably asked to use it while they made the funeral arrangements.

As they turned to head down the hall, she caught my eye and sent me a small smile. I could see weight in her face and knew she was hiding behind some of her walls again, when the smile didn't reach her eyes.

One of her brother's, I was guessing Adam since he looked the youngest, saw were she was looking and followed her line of sight over to me. I raised a hand in greeting, not approaching them yet, so they could have their space.

He said something to Shilo, who nodded, before sending me a big smile and his own little wave. Shilo took Adam's hand and spoke to her brother's before leading them down the hall and into the conference room. I knew I'd get the chance to see them later, but it was hard not to go to her side, knowing that she was hurting.

Ranger came over to me and gave me a knowing look, having watched me look after Shilo while she walked away. "They're going to start planning the memorial. Then Lester will take the boys over to the morgue so they can visit their father. While the boy's are gone, Shilo will need to go down to TPD. She's meeting with Detective Morelli to give her complete statement. You should go with her."

I nodded. "I'd like that."

He gave me a key. "Take the turbo. Make sure she's there by 1500."

"3 o'clock, got it." Stupid military time.

I wasn't technically on duty today, but I needed something to do to pass the time before I went crazy so I ran searches for Tank and took lunch in the break room with Ram and Bobby.

"How are you feeling Ram?"

Ram shrugged his shoulders. "Stiff and sore all over."

"The burns are healing quickly though." Bobby said, positively. "They'll leave scars, but you shouldn't have any lasting side-effects."

"Did you see all of Col. Lowry's boys?" Ram asked.

I nodded. "Yep, they're talking right now."

"Looks like we'll have two services to go to next week." Bobby said.

"Has Caesar's family picked a date yet?" I asked.

"Next Tuesday. Ranger's calling in contract workers so everyone can go and pay their respects."

At 2:30 I knocked on the door to the conference room Shilo and her brothers had gone to and found them all standing around one side of the table with Lester. It looked like they were just wrapping up. Shilo smiled when she saw me and I moved to her side, easily taking her hand.

Everyone had turned to look at me when I walked in and from the curious looks; I was guessing her older brother's didn't know about me yet. Adam stepped forward and took my hand.

"Julie, it's nice to meet you." He smirked at Shilo. "Your right, she's hot."

"Told you she was real." Shilo mumbled.

I grinned at that and pulled Adam into a hug. "Adam right?" I asked. "It's nice to meet you too." I pulled back and smiled at her other brothers. "All of you." I added. "I'm sorry it has to be under these sad terms."

The eldest of the group stepped forward next and held his hand out to me. "It's very nice to meet you." He said, honestly. "I'm Robert. Shilo's just told us about you and the fight that led to the Col's death. Thank you for looking after her. We might have had to come down for a double funeral."

"She doesn't need much looking after." I said honestly. "But, I do what I can."

Shilo introduced the other two and I stepped forward to shake hands. Jimmy smiled when I said hi, but Scott ignored my outstretched hand completely.

"A pleasure." He said snidely and the blank face he wore didn't hide his displeasure. He glanced over my shoulder towards Lester. "Are we ready?" He asked.

"Whenever you are." Lester answered neutrally.

Scotty nodded once and left the room quickly. Jimmy shrugged when I caught his eye again and left too.

"I don't think he likes me." I said, turning to face those who remained.

"He's being a prick." Shilo said moving to my side. "Ignore them."

"This is hard on them." Robert said. "It's a lot to take in. Give him a chance."

"He's blaming me." Shilo continued. "You know he is and he doesn't like my relationship with Julie. This is why I never brought it up."

Robert nodded. "We all knew Scotty probably wouldn't. I wish you would have told me though." He said giving her a look I couldn't read. "Your life style doesn't offend or frighten me. You're still my sister."

"Jimmy seemed to like me." I offered.

"Not for long." Shilo said. "As soon as Scott talks him into believe that our relationship is wrong Jimmy will avoid us too. He's always followed Scotty's lead. Little sheep."

Adam hooked his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into a one sided hug. "So kick his butt after the funeral." He said. "Then, if you want, you never really need to see him again afterwards."

"Might be for the best." She agreed.

"At least you've got these guys." I offered, nodding at Robert and Adam. "I like them."

She smiled. "And Tom." She added. "I'll have to introduce you guys when he gets home. He's a great guy."

"He's the one overseas right?" I asked.

Robert nodded. "Yep, has been for almost a year now. I was able to speak with him shortly, but he won't be able to come home for the service."

Robert and Adam both gave me another quick hug before they left with Lester to find Scott and Jimmy. I caught Shilo as she turned to leave too and held her back until the door was closed. Once we were alone I pulled her to me, nestling her between my knees as I sat on the edge of the table.

I stared at her until she looked up at me. "You ok?" I asked.

"Fine,"

"Liar." That was her go-to answer when she was trying to hide behind her walls. I brushed a strand of hair away from her face and wondered how much shit I'd get from the guys in the control room if I kissed her right here.

She sighed and I watched her shoulders slump a bit, as she pressed closer to me. "Ok," She amended. "So I'm not having the best day ever."

I laid a quick kiss to her temple and smiled at the little jump of heat in her eyes. "This is the best day I've had in a long time." I told her.

She raised an eyebrow at me so I continued. "Today I found out that I get to keep the most amazing woman I've ever met." She blushed. It wasn't something she did very often, but I loved the way it stained her cheeks pink and highlighted her freckles.

"You're stuck with me alright." She agreed and I was glad to see the playful quirk of her mouth and a lightless to her stance that hadn't been there a moment before. She leaned in and placed a light kiss to my lips. "Have I told you 'I love you' yet today?" She asked.

"I don't think so."

She smiled. "Well I do."

"As I love you. Now come on." I said moving her back a step as I hopped to my feet. "You've got an appointment at TPD and we best not be late."

She groaned as I took her hand and lead her down to the garage. I knew she didn't really want to go, but the look she gave me when I stopped in front of the turbo was priceless.

"We're taking your Dad's car?"

I held up the keys and shook them at her. "Yep, get in. This thing's amazing."

* * *

><p>~Darkrose.<p>

Yeah, next chapter will probably be fluffy, it's been a while since I've done a long scene with just Julie and Shilo.

R&R


	17. Chapter 17

I have come to love both Razor and Blaze although I will say I probably prefer Razor's character just a bit. Over all, you really can't go wrong with any Marry Man, even made-up extra Merry Men.

This is just a fun, fluffy little chapter to help us tie up some loose ends.

* * *

><p>"Te Amo"<p>

Chapter 17

**Pov- Julie**

Shilo and Detective Morelli talked for nearly two hours and by the time she came out, she looked ready to drop. I'd called Ryan earlier while I waited and had gotten the details on tonight's gathering. While I was sure she probably still had things she needed to discuss with her Lowry brothers I was going to make sure that Shilo took some time tonight to relax and unwind.

She saw me waiting in the lobby and came over to my side. She grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet. "Let's get out of here." She said quickly. "If I never have to give another statement it will be too soon."

I kept my hand in hers; ignoring the little looks and side-glances, we were getting from the other officer's. I slid behind the wheel of the Turbo and waited just until Shilo had clicked her seat belt before pulling onto the road and racing in the opposite direction of Haywood.

"Where are we going?" She asked, as I'd guessed she would, catching right away that I was going the wrong way.

I patted her thigh and gave her an innocent little smile. "We need to get a few things before dinner tonight."

"Like what?" She pressed again.

"I spoke with Ryan earlier." I told her. "We're meeting with him and his friends at a club downtown called La Habana at seven. It's a new Latin club I've actually been looking forward to checking out. I already know what I'm going to wear, but you don't have any dresses with your things and nothing I own will fit you properly."

"We're about the same size." She argued.

I giggled. "Your two inches taller then I am. Anything short on me will be illegal on you." Not to mention that her boobs were bigger and I wanted to have some fun making her try on sexy dresses.

My comment made her laugh and she agreed to go dress shopping with me. As long as this week had been we were both looking forward to getting out and having some fun. I took her to the large mall Steph and I always went to when we needed a 'girls day' and started passing her all of the different dresses I wanted to see her in. Short dresses, green dresses, a gray lace dress that I knew would look amazing with her legs.

"Julie, slow down." She whined as I passed her a floor length dress in jade. "I've already got six; and no floor length I want to be able to move properly if we're going to be dancing. I'll have enough problems with ribs as it is."

Once she had her arms full she went into the dressing room and started rejecting the dresses one at a time, passing the losers back out to me so I could fetch her new ones to try on. I was elbow deep in a rack of black dresses when she tapped me on the shoulder and pointed out the shopping bag she was carrying.

"Got it." She said with a smile. "Let's go."

"Which one was it?" I asked. I hadn't even seen her go up to the counter.

She just smiled and placed a light, lingering kiss on my lips. "Guess it's going to be a surprise." She teased.

Ryan was already gone when we got back to Haywood so Shilo took her things into his room to get ready so I wouldn't see what she'd bought. I was ok with that, since it also meant she wouldn't see the outfit I'd planned on wearing tonight until I was dressed.

I showered, shaved, and buffed myself within an inch of death. The end effect was smooth tanned skin I'd never really given much thought to before. Until recently, I'd always liked that the color of my skin kept me from getting sun-burned and helped me stay hidden at night. Now I was starting to think that it looked best paired next to Shilo's much lighter, freckled completion.

I ran large, loose curls through my hair and pinned the whole lot of it up onto the top of my head, leaving only a couple of dark strands down to brush against my neck and shoulders. I kept my make-up light, going with a simple smoky eye and a light gloss on my lips. I'd just slid into my dress and was starting to fight with the zipper when there was a knock at the door.

I held the dress to my chest and padded through the room, opening the door only slightly to see who was there. Steph, and Lester were waiting in the hall. I let the door open more and stepped back so they could come in.

Lester let out a loud wolf-whistle when he saw me. "Damn, little girl." He said. "Does Ranger know you own that dress?"

"Nope," I said, spinning around. "Help me with the zipper would you?"

"I'm not going anywhere near you in that dress." He said with a grin. "and I might have to kill anyone who looks at you tonight. You need four more inches of fabric."

Steph moved forward and I felt her pull the zipper up, stopping to fix one of my bobby-pins before she spun me back around. "You look amazing." She said. "I'm guessing you already have plans for tonight?"

I nodded. "Ryan's meeting up with some of his friends tonight. He invited Shilo and I along to meet them. We're making it a date night. She needs to get away from this building for a bit."

"She's had a long week." Steph agreed. "We were just going to see if the two of you wanted to come with us to Pino's for dinner."

"Where are you going?" Lester asked.

I rolled my eyes at his protective tone, but answered his questions knowing that nothing would stop him from finding out anyway. "La Habana, it's down town, and before you ask; yes, we'll take a RangeMan car and yes, I intend to be armed. I'm sure Shilo will be too. I can take care of myself Tio."

He gave me a smile and a hug, saying "humor me, I'm your uncle. I'm supposed to look out for you. The boy's are going to be all over you in that get up."

I laughed at that. "If the boy's want a piece of this," I said waving to myself. "They're going to have to get past my smoking hot girlfriend."

"Stop worrying Les, they'll be fine." Steph said, grabbing his arm and starting to tow him towards the front door. "Have a good time tonight, Julie." She called out.

"You too," I responded. "Good night."

I stopped back in the bathroom to give myself the once-over. The dress wasn't too short, ending just a couple of inches above my knees, but the slit in the left side stopped only an inch short of my panties. It had a moderate neckline that gave me a little bit of cleavage with one of my wonder bras and short sheer sleeves.

As promised, I strapped on a thigh holster opposite of the slit, so it wouldn't be easily seen and added three inch, black ankle boots. The clock in my bedroom beeped that it was time for me to go get Shilo, so I grabbed my clutch and sashayed across the hall to knock on her door.

The sight that greeted me when she swung the door open almost stole my breath. Shilo's hair was naturally wavy and tonight she'd tamed the blood red waves into curls that hung down her back. The dress she'd gotten was dark-purple and made of satin. The loose sleeves hung off her shoulders and rippled like silk, leaving her caller bone exposed. The little mini skirt hit her at mid-thigh and left a mile of toned leg for everyone to see.

The dress was synched at the waist with a belt the same color as her hair and like me, she'd opted for black, ankle boots. Hers were peep-toe letting me catch a glimpse of dark-purple toes. Her make-up was light and the dark color of the dress made her freckles stand out, both along her cheekbones and across her shoulders.

"Wow," She said stealing my word as she took in my appearance as well. "You look amazing."

"Me? Where did you find that dress? I didn't give it to you."

She smirked and did a little twirl so I could see the whole thing. "I saw it the moment we walked in." She said. "I just waited for you to get distracted and had one of the workers check it out for me. I take it you like it?"

"I think it would look better on the floor." I said unashamed.

She grinned again and stepped out of the room, pulling the door closed behind her. "We'll have to find out later." She agreed. "I think yours would look nice tossed across the back of the sofa."

I took her hand and we rode the elevator all the way to the garage, thankfully it didn't stop on five, so we were able to avoid the cat calls and the teasing. No doubt, whoever was on monitors would let everyone see the shot of us all dressed up. We could face them tomorrow. I wanted tonight to be fun and relaxing.

The drive to La Habana was short and quiet. We listened to soft jazz music in the car and Shilo asked if I'd like to go to the viewing for the Col. with her.

"Of course," I said immediately. "I'll be wherever you need me."

"I don't want you to feel like you have to come." She admitted. "I know the Col. wasn't your favorite person."

I took her hand and kissed her knuckles, keeping my eyes on the road. "Col. Lowry and I didn't get along right away." I agreed, wondering who had told her. "However we did have a couple of enlightening talks. I think that he's an interesting man and I'm sort of sad I never got the chance to really speak with him. I'd like to have had the chance to say thank you and goodbye."

"Why do you need to say thank you?" She asked.

I smirked at her. "Because he saved your life. If he hadn't stepped in when you were little, I never would have met you."

"I never thought of that." She said honestly.

"Also," I added giving her fingers a squeeze. "I know this is going to be hard on you; both because of the Col's death and your brothers all being here. I'll be wherever you need me to be, because I love you and I want to be the one you lean on during this."

She curled her mile long legs up onto the leather seat of the Turbo and leaned over to kiss my cheek. Her lips were soft and she smelt so good I almost missed it when she whispered into my ear. "You're too good to me." She said. "I'm so lucky, you love me."

"I'm just a sucker for those big green eyes." I told her truthfully, as I pulled up to the front door of the club. I got out and tossed the keys to the valet.

Shilo had already opened her door, but I offered her my hand as she stood up. I linked our arms as we walked in and leaned close so she could hear me over the music. "Make sure you tell me if your ribs start to hurt." I said. "Don't over work yourself or you'll fall asleep before I get the chance to see if that dress would look better on the floor or shamelessly tossed over the lamp in my living room."

She nodded and pulled me close for a kiss as we stepped to the side and let our eyes adjust to the club lighting. The center of the room was all dance floor. Latin music was playing over speakers and dozens of couples were already dancing. A bar ran along one side of the room and the rest of the space was dotted with tables and booths.

Shilo spotted Ryan at a large table on the far side of the room and we made our way over to them. True to his word, Connor was there along with three other men I hadn't met before.

"Hey ladies." Ryan stood to great us, giving me a big hug before wrapping an arm around Shilo and pulling her forward a step. "Guy's this is my little sister, Shilo." He pulled out a chair for her and then offered one to me as well. "and this is Julie. The girl from RangeMan I told you about."

Everyone started talking at once and Ryan had to yell over them to do introductions. Along with Connor, there were the two brothers, Evan and Riley, who were both from Dublin, Ireland. They both had green eyes and dark hair, though Evan wore his nearly a foot longer then his brothers. Last was a man a couple years older than the rest named Brian. Brian was sandy haired with brown eyes, he'd been born in the states but his mother was from Scotland and he had a great accent from spending every summer with his grandmother as a kid .

They ordered drinks for everyone and a bottle for the table and told stories about how they'd met. Ryan had already told them about the case and how he and Shilo had reconnected and I was glad they didn't press for more details tonight. Shilo invited them all to the visitation and the funeral. We talked for a long time before Shilo took my hand and smiled warmly at me.

"We'll be back in a little bit, you guys." She said standing up and pulling me along with her. "I want to see how well Julie can dance."

I stayed close to her side as we moved onto the floor and we fell easily into place. Shilo wrapped her arms around my neck and I pulled her close so I could wrap mine low around her waist. No one paid us any mind as we danced. Shilo wasn't able to move very quickly so we kept our dancing simple and I promised to take her out on her birthday in August, when she'd be fully recovered, so we could really try some moves.

"I'd love that." She said, resting her head on my shoulder and letting her lips brush lightly against the skin of my neck. "I mostly brought you our here because there's a guy at the bar checking you out." She said honestly. "He hasn't taken his eyes off you since we got here." She pressed closer so she was flush to my front and pressed a kiss to my ear. "Think he'll get the hint that you're taken?"

I spun us around and let my eyes scan along the bar. Sure enough, I spotted a small group of guys looking at us. One raised his glass when he saw me looking and blew a kiss at us. "No, I think he likes seeing us together."

She snorted. I stepped back and spun her around, keeping one of my arms wrapped around her waist as I pulled her back to my front. I had one hand spayed over her thigh and the other woven through her fingers pressed to her stomach. "Let him look," I said in her ear laying a kiss on her neck. "He'll just see that I've got the hottest date here tonight."

I moved us farther into the press of bodies on the floor and spent the last bit of the song with my nose in Shilo's curls enjoying her scent. Once the song changed, she moved her lips back to my ear and said, "Let's head back to the table."

I took her hand and noticed that below the flush of dancing she looked a little pale. I should have paid better attention. We sat back down in time to hear Ryan and his friends laughing about the men Shilo had spotted by the bar.

"You should have seen their faces Lass." Evan said, leaning closer so I could hear him. "The whole room could tell they were watching you two, then you laid one on her and he spilt his drink all down his front. Beer everywhere."

"Hey," Brian said, thumping Ryan on the leg to get his attention. "It's getting late, give her the thing you got her."

Shilo, who was nestled into my side, raised one dark red eyebrow as Ryan looked over at her and said. "What thing?"

"I got you a present." Ryan said.

"You didn't have to do that." She said quickly, sitting up as Connor and Riley, pulled a big wrapped box out from behind their chairs.

The box was wrapped in black paper with a big green bow and Ryan took it, placing it on the table right in front of where Shilo was sitting. "I'm making up for missing 15 of your birthdays." He said dismissively. "I also owe you my life; this was something very small that I could do. I think you're going to love it."

Shilo smiled sort of shyly and carefully pealed the paper away from the plain box inside. She popped the lid open and I watched her go ridged. Her eyes went wide and she looked up at Ryan. "You got me a violin?"

I scooted closer and looked into the box. Nestled in a bed of cloth was a black instrument case. I'd played sax in high school, but even I could tell it was a violin case. Shilo opened the case and inside was a glossy, dark wood violin. Along the left side of the body, someone had engraved a vine and leaf design and when she wrapped her fingers around it and pulled it out I spotted her name etched into the back.

"It's beautiful." She said softly. I watched her cradle the instrument easily along the length of her left arm, and stroke her finger gently across the strings.

"Someday soon, I hope to hear you playing it." Ryan said.

Shilo nodded. "I will. Thank you."

"Ryan say's you used to be rather good." Connor said with a smile. "You'll have to come play with us some night."

"It's been a while since I've played." She admitted, putting the violin back into its velvet bed. "I was just a kid. I'll need to practice."

Ryan and his friends chatted easily for another half an hour before I caught Shilo looking at me. She looked tired and with a little smile, she nodded towards the door. "You ready to go?"

I took the violin case from her and offered her my arm. "I've been ready all night."

She chuckled like I'd hoped she would and let me lead her out to the car. We got home in record time and I had her pinned to the wall as soon as the door was closed.

I felt her smirk against my skin as her lips trailed kisses down my neck. She took her new violin from me and pulled back a step, "Let me put this away before we hurt her."

"Her?" I asked.

She nodded and the shy little smile on her lips only drew me after her as she walked into my bedroom.

"Yes, I'm going to call her Álainn. Like swords of old, all the best instruments have names."

"That means beautiful right?"

She nodded, setting the case down on my desk and taking my hand. She pulled me flush against her front and wrapped her arms around my waist. "Yes."

I pressed my lips to hers and let my hands roam over her thighs. I felt her roll her shoulders and a couple shakes of her hips later, her dress was pooled around her ankles on the floor.

"You were right," She said pressing closer to me. "That dress does look good on the floor."

She wasn't wearing a bra, and it took me a few moments to pull my eyes away from the dark purple panties she was wearing, made only sexier by the thigh holster she was wearing. I undid the straps letting the knife fall into my hands, it was warm from being between her legs all night. I tossed it behind her onto the desk and let one of my hands land lightly on the bandage still wrapped around her ribs.

"Are you ok for this?" I asked. "I want you bad, but I don't want to hurt you."

"I should probably take my painkillers quick." She agreed.

I got her a bottle of water and made sure she'd taken both pills before pulling her into bed with me. I pinned her under me and let my lips find her neck while she worked the zipper on the back of my dress down.

**Pov- Shilo**

"Julie, does this look ok?"

Julie glanced back at me through the bathroom mirror and smiled. "You always look wonderful, Shilo." She said, letting her eyes travel over the black suit I'd picked to wear to the Col's viewing.

I rolled my eyes. "You always say that." I stood next to her in front of the sink and poked at the busies around my eye. The swelling was nearly gone, but I still had a sexy dark ring all the way around it. The edges of most of them were a sickly yellow and I knew that no amount of make-up would hide them from all of the people I'd see today.

Julie was wearing a dark blue dress that hung to her knees and cinched at the waist. It made her skin look great and her legs looked a mile long in the matching heels. I'd gone with the suit, since some of my former military bosses would be there and they'd never seen me in a dress. The black pants were pressed and I'd chosen a silver dress-shirt to wear under the jacket.

"Stop worrying so much." Julie said, moving into my side and pressing a kiss to my temple. "You look great, everything's going to go smooth today."

I shot her a thankful smile and forced myself out of the bathroom, knowing that if I stayed I'd start to mess with my make-up again. As a last minute addition, I slipped my old dog-tags over my head and let them hang against the dark material of the suit jacket. There was a knock on the door.

"Shy can you get that?" Julie asked. "I'm almost done in here."

She nodded and padded through her living room to open the door. Ryan and Adam were both in the hallway, looking great in suits of their own.

"Morning." Ryan said laying a kiss in my hair as he let himself in.

Adam looked over my outfit and nodded. "You look great."

"Thanks." I wrapped him in a one-armed hug and let him into Julie's apartment. "Where are the other guys?" I asked.

Adam sighed. "Rob's at the funeral home already. Scott and Jim will meet us there."

Julie came out of her room and got whistles from both of my brothers.

"Hey Julie, looking good." Ryan said with a smirk.

I hit him in the back of his head. "Mine."

Adam and Ryan laughed as I wrapped my arms around her waist and kissed her for emphasis. I'd been worried at first that they wouldn't get along, but Adam and Ryan had hit it off right away.

The place was still fairly empty when Adam pulled into the funeral home. Julie stayed by my side like she'd promised, while Adam and I greeted the director and he walked us around. Today was just going to be a visitation for friends and family. Tomorrow Robert and Adam would fly the Col back to his hometown for a local visitation, then they would see that he was laid to rest next to his parents in the Lowry family plots. Given the option, I'd declined traveling with them. I would say my goodbyes today and let the son's have one last day with their father.

Scott and Jimmy arrived with the casket and together the four boys carried their father inside and set him down near all of the flowers that had been arriving the last two days. I stood off to the side when people started arriving, not really sure what my role was.

Several of the Col's military friends had flow down to say goodbye including more brass then I'd seen in a long time. I made polite small talk, thanking everyone for coming as well as accepting condolences. Ranger came by with Stephanie. Both of their boy's were dressed in little black suites, looking like mini GQ models. Most of the guys from RangeMan stopped in and said hi. Ryan's band mates all came to see me although they didn't stay long. Ryan hung around even after I told him he could go and together with Julie, they made sure I was never left alone.

It was a strange thing, seeing the Col lying in his casket. Steph had directed me to a good local funeral home and they'd done a great job on him. We'd put the Col in his dress uniform so he looked right at home amongst all of the other class A uniforms in attendance.

I was standing near the casket when Rob came up and put an arm around my shoulders. Julie and Ryan had backed away to give us a moment.

"How you doing?" He asked.

I shrugged. "This is kind of surreal." I admitted, my eyes locked on the Col. "It doesn't really feel like he's gone, yet."

"He's in a better place." Rob offered. "I just wanted to make sure you weren't blaming yourself."

I shook my head and leaned into his side. "I'm not." I reassured him. There was no need to tell him that Julie had already given me this same speech. "He was here to help me, but I know it wasn't my fault he got hurt."

He pressed a kiss to the top of my head and said. "Good. There's someone very special here to see you." He added, squeezing my fingers.

I glanced up at him, confused. "Who?"

"Over by the doors." He nodded past me and let go of my side when I turned to look. Standing in the doorway was a man I hadn't seen in almost two years.

"Joker!"

I shot across the room, ignoring everyone who'd turned to look at my outburst and launched myself into the air. Joker was almost 6 foot 5 and he caught me as easily today as he had the first time I'd met him.

I locked my legs around his waist as he set me on his hip and kept my arms wrapped around his neck. He held on tight and said. "Looking good, Ace."

As a first generation American Swede, Joker had his mom's pale skin and his father's height. His hair was so blond it was almost white, buzzed short to prove he was still active duty, and his eyes were spring-sky blue. The last time I'd seen him he'd only had one tattoo on his back, but I could see several more poking out from beneath the short sleeves of his shirt.

"What are you doing here?" I finial managed as he let me slid down to my feet.

He smiled and nodded to Rob, who'd come over to stand near us along with Ryan and Julie. "A little birdie heard I was in the area and though you might need a friend today."

I introduced him to Ryan and Julie and then the four of us found a corner out of the way and I started the whole story over again. Joker sat quiet while I talked, but by the end he looked floored. I'd never told any of my team members about my childhood. They'd known I was adopted of course, but I was sure he'd never guessed the circumstances behind it.

"So this is your birth brother?" He asked motioning to Ryan.

"Yep."

"That's quite the tail. Do Wild or Jack know?"

I shook my head. "No, I've only just been able to tell people. It wasn't safe before. I hope you're not mad that I kept it from you."

He shook his head. "Of course not, but it sure explains some of your temper problems."

"I am getting very good at controlling my temper." I argued.

He chuckled and ran the pad of his thumb over the bruise around my eye. "Sure you are."

"Just don't touch her girlfriend." Ryan said with a smile. "She doesn't like that."

"No worries there." Joker promised. He pulled his wallet out of his pocket and passed me a photo. The photo was a candid shot of him and a woman on the beach. The woman in the shot was more than a foot shorter then Joker, with soft brown hair. She was in a camo patterned two-piece and they were smiling. I let Ryan and Julie see it before passing it back.

"Who's the girl?"

He smirked. "Her name is Becca. She's an army nurse, second Lieutenant. I met her four months ago on leave. We have some mutual friends. At some point after my fourth or fifth shot, we got into a bet. She was convinced she could pin me on the mats, I disagreed because she's 14 inches shorter than me and a hundred pounds lighter."

I smiled, loving where this story was going. "What happened?" I pressed.

"She kicked my ass. Apparently, she's been taking judo since she was a fetus or close enough at least. I challenged her too two separate rematches, when we weren't drunk, and she won both of those too. I asked her to diner, she stole my heart over homemade peanut butter and jelly, because we never made it out of her apartment. We got married, two weeks later."

"Awwwwww," Julie smiled. "That's so cute!"

"You're married!" I exclaimed.

He nodded, "Yes and before you say anything. I'm sorry I didn't invite you. We didn't have time to send out invites. It was just a small ceremony, us and her parents at the courthouse."

The rest of the morning flew by with Joker to talk too and I was sad to see him leave. I'd asked him to join us for dinner, but he'd had to decline. He had a plane to catch tonight so he could spend a few weeks with Becca before he was shipped out again.

I wrapped my arms around him, loath to let go, and made him promise to stay safe for me.

I stayed late, saying goodbye to everyone who'd come and thanking them for stopping by. It was past dinnertime when Rob came over to give me a hug. He and the other boy's were leaving tonight on the RangeMan jet with the Col. so they'd be ready for tomorrow's viewing.

I cried when Adam hugged me, and promised that we'd get together again soon. "You need to take Julie on vacation." He said, when I brought it up. "Bring her to L.A and you can eat V.I.P at my restaurant every night. I'll show you all the hot spots."

Scott and Jimmy both gave me short hugs and I was glad to see that they both looked like they were in better moods after their first day in Trenton. Maybe I had a chance at repairing those relationships after all.

**Pov- Julie**

I stood off to the side of the room with Ryan while we watched Shilo say goodbye to her adopted brothers. The building was nearly empty and a couple of the funeral home assistants had already started putting away chairs.

Ryan and I started carting out pots of flowers, putting them in Adam's car so he could take them with the Col. We were making the last trip when I reached out and touched his arm. I'd really enjoyed getting to know Ryan in the last few days and I was starting to feel guilty that I hadn't mentioned Peter yet.

"Julie?" He asked when he glanced at me. "You ok?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. Have you got anywhere you need to be tonight?" I asked. "I'd like to take you and Shilo to dinner. I have something I need to talk to you both about."

* * *

><p>~Darkrose<p>

I swear I haven't forgotten about this story. I'm almost done with the last chapter's and I'll get them posted as soon as I can.


	18. Chapter 18

Shameless fluff ahead. Extra soft pillows with a lemony twist fluff. Fluffy baby ducks on plush white clouds fluff. What can I say the fluff monster grabbed a hold and held on tight for this one folks. Enjoy.

* * *

><p>Chapter 18<p>

Te Amo

**Pov- Julie**

I couldn't believe how quickly the next four weeks moved. Ryan and Shilo had come to diner with me and over pasta at a private table at Rossini's I'd told them everything Col. Lowry had shared with me on his death bed. Peter was still alive and they started looking.

Shilo was working full time at RangeMan. She trained with Hector and worked with Razor in the field. Ranger gave her full access to all of the RangeMan databases to aid in her search although she hadn't turned anything up yet.

Ryan had settled into a new house and the band was back to spending nearly every night together, sharing dinner and making music as a group. Shilo and I tried to join them at least a couple of times a week when we weren't needed at work or slipping away so I could date her properly, away from the spying eyes of our beloved Merry Men.

That's where we were headed tonight. Shilo was humming to herself in our, now permanently shared, apartment on four while she looked for clothes in the closet to wear to Ryan's.

"Julie, did I already lay Álainn out?" She asked.

The violin had become her nearly constant companion inside the walls of our apartment. She played for me most nights, relearning the fingerings. She complained a lot about the things she'd forgotten. I'd never been good at music and thought it was amazing she even knew how to hold the thing right.

"She's on the bed." I called back after checking the bedroom. "Are you bringing her with us tonight?"

Shilo walked into the room, wearing light blue jeans and a green top. She'd done her hair up and I caught sight of her dog tags tucked under her clothes. She'd taken to wearing them more often then not, which I loved because they were sexy as hell.

"Yes, I think I'm ready to try jamming with the boys."

I took her left hand in mine and looked over all of the little cuts on her fingertips. "How are the calluses coming?"

She grinned. "They don't break open every time I play."

"Progress." I agreed.

"A few more weeks and I won't even notice them anymore."

She grabbed up the beautiful violin and I hung our purses over my shoulder as we let ourselves out. Lester tried to follow us into the SUV we were using. Shilo hadn't let anyone, but me hear her play yet, and Lester had been bugging her about it most of all.

"Lester." Shilo said with a stern voice, pointing back towards the elevator door. "Inside, now."

"Aww, come on Starfire. I wanna hear you play."

She smiled at the new nickname the guys had just started calling her. Ironically it had been Hector who'd finally found a name that everyone loved. I thought it fit well. Shilo might not be quite as positive as the cartoon character Starfire, but she had the red head, badass part down pretty well.

"Nope." She popped the 'P' "Some other night Les, I promise I'll play for everyone soon. I want more time to practice first."

He pouted at her for another five minutes before she managed to get around him and slid into the passenger's seat. We drove to Ryan's house in comfortable silence. Shilo had her violin in her lap, but her hand on my thigh, drawing little patterns on my skin.

We pulled up to the curb in front of the house and judging from the number of car's, we were the last one's here.

"Looks like we're late." Shilo commented.

"Only fashionably."

Inside the boy's had already started partying. The table was full of food and there was a chest of beers in the living room. Evan was spread out of the floor, guitar in his lap, strumming gently. His twin, Riley was setting up a large, black, drum set.

Riley, spotted us first. "Girls are here!" He called.

Ryan caught Shilo up in a hug, and then spotted the case across her back. "Shilo's gunna play with us."

Cheer's went up again and Brian brought us both beers as Connor called everyone into the living room to get started.

"Wait!" Evan demanded, jumping to his feet. "The girls haven't eaten yet." He loaded two plates and passed them to us. "I brought my most amazingly awesome potato hash. No one is allowed to play until they tell me how wonderful it is."

The other guys rolled their eyes, but Evan stared us down until we'd both scooped some of the hash into our mouths. The potatoes were crispy on the outside and creamy in the middle, cooked with peppers and onions and what I'm pretty sure was bacon. It looked fatty and tasted amazing, Ranger would never approve.

"This is amazing." Shilo said, "Why haven't you brought this before?"

"Cuz it takes all freaking day to make." He looked over at me, waiting for my opinion.

I nodded along and shoved another spoon full into my face. The guys all laughed, and Shilo leaned over to kiss me.

"Yum," She said, pulling back. "You taste like peppers." Her tongue flicked out and swept across her bottom lip. I nearly moaned.

"Watch out Julie," Ryan teased. "She's Irish; potatoes are like an aphrodisiac to our people. One more potato kiss and she'll drag you home before we get the chance to hear her play."

Everyone chatted easily while we ate; catching each other up on what they'd done for the day, or in our case the week, since we'd last joined them.

"We've been working to track down an FTA." Shilo told the guys. "Two counts of rape and the idiot who gave him bail can't figure out why he disappeared."

Evan was telling a story about some idiot he worked with during the day, and I was nose deep in a corn salsa the Ryan liked to make when my phone beeped. I glanced down at the screen and excused myself to answer it.

"Blaze?"

"Hey, Julie." My new partner said. "Sorry to interrupt your party. Ranger and Tank have eyes on that FTA. You know the one Dan Mort, the rapist."

"He's called us in?" Why would he pick us, when he could have Bobby and Lester back them up?

"Yep," Blaze said, "You me, Shilo and Razor. He wants us all in on the take down so there's no chance of him getting away. He called it 'in the field training'. This guys worth top dollar and we're running out of time to catch him. Shilo's with you right? Will you tell her for me? Razor's getting our gear."

I was already walking back into the room. I tapped Shilo on the shoulder and everyone went quiet. "They found Mort, were on for the take down."

She nodded and grabbed our plates, bringing them into the kitchen. I stepped into my shoes and passed Shilo her coat when she joined me. "Where'd they find him?" I asked into the phone.

"Some bar on Stark, real original right? Meet us down there, were going to ride down with Cal and Hal."

I hung up and tossed the guys an apologetic look. "Sorry, boys. We need to run."

"Go catch bad guys." Evan called.

"You can play with us tomorrow." Ryan offered giving Shilo a quick hug.

Shilo nodded. "Mind if Álainn spends the night?"

"Of course not."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

It was after midnight when Shilo unlocked the door to our room and dragged me inside behind her. Mort the Moron, as we'd started calling him, panicked when he'd seen Ranger waiting for him in the parking lot. Instead of accepting the fact that he was going to jail and coming along nicely, he'd opened fire on the entire lot.

Thankfully, Mort the Moron was useless with a gun. It helped that he'd already knocked back half a dozen different shots and was having trouble walking straight. He did manage to hit half the cars in the lot. Thankfully he missed every person on our team, even thought we'd gone in with more men then necessary. The only injury happened when Cal tackled Mort to the ground and cut his knee open on some old, broken glass on the pavement.

Bobby patched him up right and we spent the next two hours talking to the police while patrons from the bar yelled and argued about their car's getting dinged up for our efforts. No love for the bounty hunters in that bar, forget that we pulled a dangerous criminal off the road. Ranger's insurance was going to have a fit. The SUV Shilo and I used took a bullet through the windshield so we'd had to wait around for Ranger to give us a ride back while it was towed away.

I kicked off my shoes and left them in a heap near the door. Shilo's joined them and we unloaded our pockets for the night. Phone's plugged in, guns on the bedside tables, other junk wherever junk ends up. My pants hit the ground and I was aiming for the bed when Shilo caught my hand and pulled me back out towards the kitchen.

"Shilo," I whined. "Sleepy, let's go to bed."

She grinned at me and pushed me into one of the bar stools at our breakfast counter. "It's 12:47pm." She said moving into the kitchenette and pulling a couple of bottles out of the cupboard. "Did you really think I'd forget about your birthday?"

Well hell, I had. I glanced at the clock and chuckled. Sure enough, I'd been 21 for nearly an hour and hadn't even realized it. She pulled out a pair of shot glasses, opened a couple of beers, and passed me a ridicules sparkly party hat.

"No way."

She put a second hat on her head, snapping the little chin strap into place and arranging it in her red curls. "Party pooper, I'm going to wear one."

I gave in and put the silly hat on while she dumped chips into a bowl and pulled out salsa and rolls for us to munch on. I was no stranger to drinking, but I'd been looking forward to this for awhile. I poured out a round of shots and smiled as Shilo came around the counter to take her glass from me. She'd taken off her pants too.

I tipped the glass in her direction and made to take it. Shilo reached out and caught my hand before I could. "Wait," She said softly. "Let me go first. I owe you a shot remember?"

We hadn't spoken about our little game of twenty questions since the kidnapping. The only question she'd refused to answer had been when I asked how she knew so much about the O'Donnell's. No wonder she hadn't wanted to talk about it. "You don't have to take it." I told her. "I understand why you weren't ready to tell me about that now."

"Maybe if I had told you sooner, we could have avoided a lot of pain."

The mood in the room had dipped into depressing so I tried to change the subject. "We never did finish all of our questions."

She smiled at me like a little vixen. "I'll tell you anything you want, ask away." She promised, and then she downed the shot and grimaced. "There, I'm all paid up."

I refilled her glass and we worked our way through most of the bottle, talking about nothing and everything, making up funny toasts and working our way through questions we had, trying to finish the game I'd started just to hear her voice.

I poured another pair of tequila shots and raised one to her. "Here's to no pants." I offered.

She giggled, something I'd noticed she did more when she was drunk. "To panties!" She agreed tipping the shot down.

"Questions 19," I started. "What's the one place in the world you want to visit that you haven't already been too?"

She thought for a while before she answered. "There are a few placed I'd like to go." She admitted. "Rio is the first place that comes to mind. I've traveled a lot, but I've never been to Brazil."

"I've never been to Rio either." Maybe someday I could take her there.

"However, I think the first place on my list is Ireland." She continued. "It's been so long since I've seen it. I wonder if it will look anything like what I remember."

Somewhere after shot three, she'd put on low music with a steady beat. After shot six, we'd moved down to the floor, dragging all of our snacks and bottles with us. At this rate, we'd fall over soon anyway so I justified sitting on the floor as smart thinking. Less distance to fall later.

Shilo sipped at her second beer and looked up at me. "You want part of your present now?" She asked scooting closer to my side.

Her leg was warm against mine and I was starting to think that the best present I could get would just be her naked and panting underneath me. "You got me more than one?" I asked.

She nodded. "Yep, I've been busy, but this was one I already had." Then she pulled her family crest out from under her shirt. The chain was long enough that she could pull it over her head without unclipping it. She set the pendant in her palm and gave it a loving little caress. The chain had been replaced and the silver had been polished, but looking at it now, I could still picture it darkened by her own blood. Had that really only been a month ago?

She moved a little bit and looped the chain over my head. She lifted my hair gently out of the way and let the little medallion nestle against my breasts. The metal was warm, since she always wore it next to her skin.

I touched the pendant and looked down at the crest I'd become so familiar with in the last few week. Then I looked up at the woman who'd become so important to me. Shilo was watching me with dark green eyes, calculating my every move. I could tell she was waiting for my reaction to her gift and how worried she was that it wouldn't be the one she wanted.

"You want me to have this?" The pendant had belonged to her father's father, the only grandfather she'd ever gotten to meet. I knew how important it was to her and couldn't believe she'd just offered it to me. I'd never seen her remove it willingly.

She nodded. "I grew up with a big family, and when I lost them I spent a lot of time resenting the fact that I had no one. Eventually I warmed up to the Lowry's, but Adam is the only one I call my brother. I've been blessed to get Ryan back, and I hope soon we'll find Peter too, but." She hesitated, and I sensed that the next words from either of us would change our relationship forever.

She looked up at me and said. "You're the family I choose. I love you."

I didn't think, I just reacted as quickly as I could, rolling so I was straddled across her legs and bringing my lips to hers. She tasted like tequila and her own unique taste that drove me so wild. She pressed back just as hungrily, her arms wrapping around my waist to press us closer together. She clung to me like I might disappear. I let one of my hands find her wild hair and used to other to cup her cheek and keep her close.

If you'd asked me a couple of months ago where I'd thought my life was going I probably wouldn't have known how to answer. I'd have been working at RangeMan most definitely; Ranger probably would have talked me back into taking more college classes, since I never finished my degree. I certainly never would have thought of this.

Wrapped in Shilo's arms it was easy to see us together forever. I'd come to love her more in a couple of weeks, then I did people I'd known my whole life. She'd given me her most prize possession in a declaration of love and called me family. It was as complete a commitment as either of us could make since Gay Marriage wasn't legal in New Jersey. It also had me wondering what had held me back from giving her the ring in my safe.

_I'd been out with Ranger a few days ago when he'd announced that we needed to make a pit stop on our way back to Haywood. He had to pick up his latest order from his favorite jeweler in Trenton. He'd gotten Stephanie another lavish present._

"_You know she hates it when you spend all kinds of money on her." I said, looking over the cases of jewelry while he waited for the man to get his order._

"_That is part of what makes it fun." He'd said. "I like seeing her wear the things I give her. She's gotten better at just accepting my gifts over the years."_

_ Ranger caught me looking over a selection of rings and moved to my side. "I bet I can guess why you're looking at the Claddagh rings." He'd said._

_ Honestly, I didn't know what kind of rings they were. I'd stopped because the case was decorated with little green clovers and I'd been interested in learning more about Irish customs and traditions since I'd become involved with Shilo. Were these rings Irish?_

"_Why's that?" I'd asked, trying to sound smug and tricking him into telling me more about the unique rings._

"_The Claddagh ring is a traditional Irish ring meant to symbolize any number of things." The jeweler had interrupted as he came back over with Ranger's order. "It can stand for a bond of friendship or marriage and depending on how you wear it can broadcast that meaning to those who know what to look for. They are more commonly worn in Ireland then in the States however."_

_ I'd listened to him talk for nearly half an hour, but I was sold after the first little speech. I selected a white gold band made to look like two hands, coming together to hold a crowned heart. The ring I liked had a fiery orange opal in it, cut into the shape of a heart and it reminded me so much of Shilo's hair that even if I never worked up the courage to give it to her I wanted it. The crown that topped it was made of white gold too and had a tiny circle diamond laid into the center._

_ Ranger kept his face blank and didn't say a word while I bought my ring and the jeweler wrapped it up. I tried to ignore him, but he was making me nervous. What if I did give it to her? I was certainly more than her friend; but would she want to commit to me permanently? Did I have to ask Ranger for permission? What would he and Steph think? What would my mom think? Actually, I guess I should probably ask Ryan since he was her older brother. Why did I have to ask anyone?_

_ Ranger and I got back in the car silently and we were a few blocks away before he broke the silence. "Whatever you decide to do with that ring, know that Stephanie and I will always support you."_

"_I don't know what I'm going to do with it." I'd admitted._

_ He smiled at me. "It's a beautiful choice."_

"_It reminded me of her."_

_ He just nodded. "That's what makes it beautiful."_

"Julie?"

Shilo's voice broke me out of my thoughts. We'd been sitting in the kitchen for a while, still wrapped together on the floor. I looked up at her and smiled, letting my lips graze along her neck were I'd tucked my head.

"Yes?"

"I'm done drinking."

I nodded along and stood up with her as she moved towards the bedroom. "Do I get another present now?" I asked hopefully.

She turned around, walking backwards into the bedroom as I followed after her. She pulled her shirt over her head and let it fall to the ground. I moaned at the sight I'd come to see every night when I fell asleep and stopped in the doorway to watch her undress.

She let the rest of her clothes fall to the ground and crawled into our bed. She propped herself up on her elbows looking at me through a curtain of dark, flaming hair and smiled. "See something you like?"

"Definitely."

"Happy Birthday."

I followed her, my clothes hitting the ground much faster than hers had. I crawled over her, letting my lips play along her skin. In these moments, I got to see a side of Shilo that I knew no one else had ever seen. On the outside in her daily life, Shilo was one of the strongest people I'd ever met. She was definitely better at keeping her cool and masking her emotions then I was. She didn't make friends quickly and often came across as sort of distant. Here, in the safety of our room, she usually let me lead, trusting that I'd keep her safe. Her confidence in me pushed me to be better. It pushed me to be worthy of her.

I took my time, teasing her with light kisses, pulling hard won little gasps and moans from her pale throat. Shilo didn't speak much in our times together and that only increased my determination to break through her walls and snap that nearly perfect control.

I kissed the valley between her breasts and held firm when she tried to roll us over and take the lead.

"Julie," She said softly. "Roll over Lover."

I nibbled on her neck. "I'm not done yet." My hands ghosted down her sides and I let a single finger trace the slit between her legs, finding her soaked.

She moaned, and pressed her hips into my hand desperate for more contact. She took a shallow breath and her nails scratched light trails up my back.

"Let me make you feel good." She said, her hands sliding around my sides to trail up my chest. Her fingers found my nipples already hard and she rolled the peaks gently between warm fingers. "Tonight is about you."

I sat up my hips lined up over hers and pulled her hands away from my breasts. I stretched forward, pulling her arms up over her head. I crossed her wrists and kissed her gently, trailing my lips to her ear.

"Don't move your hands until I tell you too."

"But,"

I shook my head and cut her off by grounding my hips down against her. She jumped and I grinned at her. "No, buts. It's my birthday and I'm having fun. Let me love you."

She nodded along and stayed still while I looked her over. She was, without a doubt, the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen. Her pale skin, flushed red for my efforts, highlighted her freckles. Her hair a dark bloody red against the cream sheet. Her eyes were a light, playful jade as she watched me look her over with a hungry look. Her tongue flicked out to wet her bottom lip and the temperature in the room jumped.

"How many freckles do you have?"

**Pov- Shilo**

"What?"

Julie's soft fingers trailed down my stomach and every second she teased me I lost more control over our conversation. I could hardly think straight let alone speak. How had I lost control of this situation? I'd intended this night to go differently.

"How many freckles do you have?" Julie asked again softly.

That's what I'd thought she'd said. "I'm not, I mean I don't know. There all over the place."

She tapped her finger against her lip a few times before lowering it and poking a small freckle above my left breast. "One." A wicked little smile crossed her beautiful lips and she worked her way across my caller bone touching each little spot. "Two, three, four." I moaned as she ran a nail over my nipple. I hadn't even known there was a freckle next to my right nipple. She rolled the bud of hardened flesh and I shivered. Oh hell, let her lead. I loved it when Julie took the dominate role.

"Then I guess, I'll have to find each one and count them for myself."

She did just that. She started at my face, lightly tracing each dark spot. She found a pair behind my ear and one along my hairline. She gave me a quick kiss and then moved down my neck. She found one in the hallow of my throat before kissing the one above my breast. "I think this one is my favorite." She whispered against my skin.

"Why's that?" I asked, squirming at the slow burn between us. My favorite thing in this world was the feel of her skin on mine. It only felt better as her hair tickled across my torso while she explored to find every hidden speck on my skin.

"It's right over your heart."

"Then it's yours." I told her.

She kissed it again. "Your heart or the freckle?"

"Both. Everything. Anything I can give you."

She owned every part of me. I never would have believed that I could find someone like Julie to share my life with. She was everything I needed in a partner and everything I hadn't thought to ask for at the same time. She completed me and countered all of my flaws. I hope she knew that was what I'd been trying to say when I'd given her the necklace. Whatever happened from here on out, she had me as long as she'd keep me.

She moved back up to my face and looked at me with those dark brown eyes. What did she see when she looked at me. Did she see how desperately I loved her? How badly I needed her love to ground me now that I knew it's sweet touch.

"Te amo, Shilo."

I pecked her on the nose. "Is breá liom tú. I love you too."

We finally drifted off as the sun was coming up, casting a gray shadow around the room. Julie had tucked herself into my side, one leg thrown over my hips. Her arm draped across my stomach. I smiled to myself as I closed my eyes knowing that things were only going to get better.

I awoke the next morning to Julie's lips dancing across my neck. She called my name and my eyes fluttered open. She looked beautiful. The sheet was tangled around our legs and my crest hung between her breasts, the only bits of clothing to separate us.

"Morning." I said on a yawn, rolling onto my side to face her.

She smiled at me. "Actually its after one. We've slept the day away."

"Worth it."

She chuckled. "Indeed." She dropped her gaze to the sheet between us for a moment and bit her lip. She was thinking about something.

"What is it?" I asked, wondering what could have her thinking this hard this early and wondering if she felt as hung over as I did.

She caught my gaze and pinned me to the spot with those powerful brown eyes. "Question twenty," She started.

The last one. What would she ask? What didn't she know about me at this point? I'd hung up so much dirty laundry in the past month I no longer had any secrets. Well, other than the things I couldn't speak about. Those didn't count.

"Ask away." I pressed when she hesitated. "I'll tell you anything."

She smiled and slid a hand into the folds of the sheet, pulling out a little black jewelry box. She popped the lid open and spun it around, sliding it across the silk sheet.

"How much do you love me?"

For the first time in my life, I felt completely caught off guard. I'd given her my love, my heart, my history, everything I had to give a partner. In return, she'd loved me and shared her life with me, but I'd never expected her to propose to me. Half the time I still didn't believe that she thought I was worthy of her.

The ring was beautiful. A white gold Claddagh ring. Cradled in the hands was a fiery orange heart crowned with more white gold and a little diamond. Claddagh rings were my favorite. I loved the symbolism behind them. I pulled the ring from the case and looked at her. "It's beautiful."

She smiled. "It reminded me of you."

I moved to put it on and she caught my hands. She took the ring from me and slid it on to my left ring finger so the point of the heart was facing my body. I wondered if she knew what that meant. She folded our fingers together and kissed where our thumbs crossed.

"I know that wearing it this way is supposed to symbolize marriage." She said. "We can't do that in this state, but honestly I don't care about a piece of paper. Maybe someday we can, if you want. I just want everyone who sees it to know that you're taken. That you belong to me and that I don't share. I love you Shilo. I'd like to commit myself to you."

I rolled her over and pinned her beneath my body. I kissed her neck. I kissed the silver pendant between her breasts. I kissed the hollow of her throat before finally kissing her lips. She smiled as I pulled away.

"I love you."

Her smile grew as she folded her arms around my neck and pulled my face back to hers. "How much?" My mouth met hers in a passionate fury, each of us desperate to get closer to the others. I hope Ranger didn't have plans for the day, cuz I'm pretty sure it was going to take all day to show this woman how much I loved her.

* * *

><p>~Darkrose<p>

I love fluffy chapters.


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